Duke Ellington

1899 – 1974 · died at about 75^[1][2]

Music

Fun Facts About Duke Ellington

• Duke Ellington's best-selling album, Ellington at Newport, was largely simulated: only about 40% came from the concert, with re-recorded numbers and faked crowd noise.^[1]
• Ellington's first job was selling peanuts at Washington Senators baseball games, and he recalled President Theodore Roosevelt stopping on horseback to watch him play ball.^[1][3][4]
• Ellington started out as a sign painter: when customers ordered a sign for a dance, he would ask if they had music and offer to play himself.^[1]
• Ellington got the nickname "Duke" as a boy because his dapper dress and manners gave him the bearing of a young nobleman; he credited his friend Edgar McEntee.^[1]
• When no Pulitzer Prize for Music was given in 1965 despite Ellington being shortlisted, the 66-year-old joked, "Fate doesn't want me to be famous too young."^[1]
• In 2009, Ellington became the first African American to appear by himself on a circulating U.S. coin, the District of Columbia quarter.^[1]
• Duke Ellington was alive at the same time as Queen Victoria — their lives overlapped for 2 years (1899–1901).^[1][2][5][6]
• Duke Ellington shares a birthday with Hirohito: both were born on April 29.^[1][2][7][8]

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Ralph J. Gleason called him "America's most important composer."^[1]

Contemporaries

Georgia O'Keeffe

75 yr overlap

Charlie Chaplin

75 yr overlap

Agatha Christie

75 yr overlap

Haile Selassie

75 yr overlap

Mao Zedong

75 yr overlap

Golda Meir

75 yr overlap

Jorge Luis Borges

75 yr overlap

Alfred Hitchcock

75 yr overlap

Chiang Kai-shek

75 yr overlap

Pablo Picasso

74 yr overlap

J.R.R. Tolkien

74 yr overlap

Werner Heisenberg

73 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Duke Ellington

When was Duke Ellington born?

Duke Ellington was born on April 29, 1899, and died on May 24, 1974.

How old was Duke Ellington at death?

Duke Ellington was born on April 29, 1899, and died on May 24, 1974, at age 75.

What was Duke Ellington known for?

Duke Ellington was known for: Jazz legend, big band pioneer. Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Ralph J. Gleason called him "America's most important composer."

Who was alive at the same time as Duke Ellington?

Duke Ellington's closest contemporary was Georgia O'Keeffe. Their lives overlapped for 75 years.