what makes duke ellington an american icon?

Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was born on April 29, 1899, in Washington, D.C. He was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of the Duke Ellington Orchestra from 1923 until his death in 1974. Both his parents were pianists and he began piano lessons at the age of seven. In the summer of 1914, while working as a soda jerk, he wrote his first composition, “Soda Fountain Rag.” He created the piece by ear as he had not yet learned to read or write music.¹

For his 70th birthday Ellington performed at the White House. However, Duke’s father had beaten him to it – he worked there as a butler in the 1920’s.¹ Duke Ellington is credited with composing over 3,000 pieces of music.²

• Duke Ellington was awarded the President’s Gold Medal in 1966 and the Medal of Freedom in 1969.²
• Duke Ellington received 13 Grammy Awards.²
• Bestowed posthumously, he was the 1999 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Special Citations and Awards.³
• He was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 1973.²
• Duke Ellington has a United States Commemorative stamp with his image on it issued in 1986.²

Influencing millions of people around the world, Duke Ellington gave American music its own sound for the first time. In addition to his many US performances, his fifty-year career included over 20,000 performances in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia.²

¹www.nch.ie: “10 Facts about Duke Ellington”  ²www.dukeellington.com  ³www.pulitzer.org