Arthur Jacob Arshawsky was born on May 23, 1910 in New York City, New York. He began playing clarinet in high school, and in 1935, he played one of his own compositions at the Imperial Theater in New York with his band. In 1937, a recording of Cole Porter’s “Begin the Beguine” hit #1 in U.S. charts. Shaw continued to make the charts through the 40s but then gave up jazz completely in 1954, only to come back for a little while in 1983. Shaw was a perfectionist and was very critical of himself when it came to his music.

Artie Shaw passed away on December 30, 2004. He was 94.