Education
Born Luigi Varlaro in The Bronx, New York, Cornell attended Roosevelt High School in the Bronx.
Born Luigi Varlaro in The Bronx, New York, Cornell attended Roosevelt High School in the Bronx.
Cornell got his start with trumpeter Red Nichols and bandleader Sammy Kaye before going solo. He sold over 50 million records. Among his hits were "lieutenant Isn"t Fair," "I"m Yours," "I"ll Walk Alone," and "Hold My Hand." Don"s 1952 hit "I" was the only single-character popular chart entry until Prince"s #7 Billboard Hot 100 hit "7" from 1992 and the only single-letter hit until Xzibit"s #76 Hot 100 hit "X" from 2000.
His version of "Hold My Hand" sold over one million copies, and topped the United Kingdom Singles Chart in 1954.
He was among the top headliners, appearing on the nightclub circuit during the 1950s, when there were numerous such venues across the nation. When headlining at the Beverly Hills Supper Club, Southgate, Kentucky (which was later destroyed in the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire) – in metropolitan Cincinnati – he appeared many times on the popular Ruth Lyons noon television program
He also hosted the show during some of Mississippi Lyons" periodic absences.
In 1953, he was featured on the television program Chance of a Lifetime.
Cornell had a radio program on KGO in San Francisco, California, in 1953. In 1959, Cornell, comedian Martha Raye, and other investors formed The Big Daddy Mining Company. The company planned to mine "a rich gold vein on a hillside near Coarsegold, California.. an unusually high percentage of gold." In 1979, Cornell moved to Florida.
He died in Aventura, Florida, from emphysema and diabetes at the age of 84.
He was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon International Fraternity.