John McCormack

Irish-born American tenor John McCormack, who sang both popular and classical works, was one of the most successful live musical performers of the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s, regularly selling out concerts in the biggest halls around the world, as well as being a top recording artist. The 600-plus sides he recorded, primarily for Victor Records, between 1904 and 1942 are estimated to have sold upward of 200 million copies. Chart researcher Joel Whitburn, in his book of chart approximations, Pop Memories 1890-1954, ranks McCormack 23rd among the top artists of the 64-year period, giving him seventh place for the decade 1910-1919, and his recording of the World War I anthem "It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary" is listed as the tenth most successful recording of that decade.

McCormack was born in Athlone, Ireland, on June 14, 1884, the son of mill laborer Andrew McCormack and Hannah (Watson) McCormack. At the age of 12 in 1896, he won a scholarship to Summerhill College in Sligo, and he attended the school until 1902, when he graduated at 18. Already intent upon a singing career, he accepted a place in the Palestrina Choir of Dublin's Pro-Cathedral, where he was encouraged by the choir-master. In 1903 he entered a competition in the Feis Ceoil, the Irish National Music Festival, and won the gold medal for tenor. In 1904 he went to America for the first time and sang at the St. Louis World's Fair. The same year he traveled to London where he made his first recordings for the Edison, Edison Bell, and Gramophone & Typewriter (G&T) labels. Meanwhile, a friend had written on his behalf to the Italian singing instructor Vincenzo Sabatini, and Sabatini agreed to accept him as a pupil. He left for Milan to study with Sabatini early in 1905 and spent much of the year there. By the following winter, Sabatini judged him ready to perform, and he made his operatic debut on January 13, 1906, with the Teatro Chiabrero company in Savona in L'Amico Fritz. Returning to Great Britain, he settled in London, where he found singing engagements and signed a six-year contract with Odeon Records. It has sometimes been suggested that, over the course of his career, he moved from primarily a classical to primarily a popular repertoire, but biographer Gordon T. Ledbetter, in his book The Great Irish Tenor, points out that even at this early point McCormack's recordings were a mixture of material, with the greatest share of it being the Irish ballads for which he was best known.

McCormack was engaged by the Royal Opera in 1907, making his debut at Covent Garden on October 15, 1907, as Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana. At 23, he was the youngest tenor ever to sing a major role with the opera company. As of 1908, he moved to the more prestigious summer season schedule, and he continued to perform at Covent Garden until the opera closed temporarily at the start of World War I in 1914