Kate Smith
Overview
 
Kathryn Elizabeth "Kate" Smith (May 1, 1907 – June 17, 1986) was an American Popular singer, best known for her rendition of Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...

's "God Bless America
God Bless America
"God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin in 1918 and revised by him in 1938. The later version has notably been recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature song ....

". Smith had a radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

, and recording career spanning five decades, which reached its pinnacle in the 1940s.

Smith was born in Greenville
Greenville, Virginia
Greenville is a census-designated place in Augusta County, Virginia, United States. The population was 886 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Staunton–Waynesboro Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

, Virginia. Her professional musical career began in 1930, when she was discovered by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

 vice president Ted Collins, who became her longtime partner and manager.
 
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