Cab Calloway Official Site

1930
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980

1930

• Cab records his signature song “Minnie the Moocher”, the first musical recording by a black artist to sell 1 million records.
• Cab and his band become among of the first black performers to tour the US South and Europe.
• Cab stars in numerous film productions including Al Jolson’s “The Singing Kid” and Max Fleischer Betty Boop animations.

1940

• Cab popularizes the zoot suit with his performance in “Stormy Weather”, one of the first films to feature an all-black cast.
• Cab publishes the “Hepster’s Dictionary”, the first known literary collection of Harlem slang terminology.
• Cab tours Cuba and experiments with Cuban Jazz and singing in Spanish.

1950

• Cab performs on Broadway, as well as Paris and London, in Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” as Sportin’ Life, a character Gershwin originally wrote for Cab in the 1930s.
• Cab tours South America three times with smaller bands.
• Cab stars in the film St. Louis Blues with Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt, Ruby Dee, and Pearl Bailey.

1960

• Cab returns to Broadway in the all-black revue of “Hello Dolly"
• Cab performs on the Ed Sullivan Show with his daughter, vocalist Chris Calloway.
• Cab performs as the halftime show for the Harlem Globetrotters.

1970

• Cab gives a lesson on Jive and counts with The Count on Sesame Street.
• Cab co-writes his autobiography “Of Minnie the Moocher and Me”.
• Cab performs at Nice, Newport and North Sea jazz festivals.

1980

• Cab stars in the cult classic film “The Blues Brothers”.
• Cab appears in Janet Jackson’s “Alright” video wearing a classic yellow zoot suit.
• Cab continues to tour the US and Europe.