• January 13, 1887 - February 9, 1966
• She was born Sonya Kalish to a Russian-Jewish family from Tulchyn, Podolia Governorate, Russian Empire. (It is now Vinnytsia Oblast, in the Ukraine) Sophie arrived in the United States at the age of three months.
• The Jewish family were en route to America, fleeing Russian persecution when Sophie entered this world. Tucker later wrote in her autobiography that she was born not on a vaudeville circuit, but the road between Russia and United States.
• One of her most famous songs was " My Yiddishe Momme". She performed it in large American cities where there were large Jewish audiences.
• Her signature song was "Some Of These Days." Tucker laid down the first of her several versions of it in 1911, one of ten that she recorded on wax cylinders for the Edison Company, for a fee of $1,000.
  
  The most successful version of the song was one where she was backed by Ted Lewis and his band in 1926. It stayed in the #1 position on the charts for five weeks and earned her a gold disc.
  
  Tucker titled her 1945 autobiography "Some Of These Days."
• When The Beatles played " Till There Was You" at the Royal Command Performance of 1963. Paul McCartney introduced the song as previously being performed "by our favorite American group, Sophie Tucker."
• Sophie Tucker greeted George V of the United Kingdom, in her 1934 Royal Command performance, by saying: "Hiya King!"
• She was so famous that when in 1962 Americans were asked what they thought on hearing the name Sophie, 95 per cent answered "Tucker."
• Tucker died of lung cancer and kidney failure on February 9, 1966. It was said she smoked so much that a friend's parrot would cough every time her name was mentioned.

Comments

More Songfacts:

Bug A BooDestiny's Child

In the 1999 Destiny's Child song "Bug A Boo," they complain about a guy who bugs them on MCI, AOL, and their pagers.

Open ArmsJourney

"Open Arms" was a pioneering power ballad. Stadium rock bands like Journey shied away from slow songs, but when they reluctantly agreed to record the song, it became their biggest chart hit.

Closing TimeSemisonic

"Closing Time" by Semisonic was written by the lead singer when his wife was pregnant. Some of the lyrics are about being born.

HeartbeatDon Johnson

Don Johnson, who starred as Sonny Crockett in Miami Vice, was also a singer. He had a #5 hit in 1986 with "Heartbeat."

Ballroom BlitzSweet

Sweet's hit "Ballroom Blitz" was inspired by an incident in 1973 when the band were performing in Scotland and driven offstage by a barrage of bottles.

TendernessGeneral Public

"Tenderness" by General Public was partly inspired by the outbreak of AIDS, which at the time was thought to be contagious.

Editor's Picks

Have Mercy! It's Wolfman JackSong Writing

The story of the legendary lupine DJ through the songs he inspired.

Protest SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know your protest songs (including the one that went to #1)?

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In SongsSong Writing

Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.

Joe Elliott of Def LeppardSongwriter Interviews

The Def Leppard frontman talks about their "lamentable" hit he never thought of as a single, and why he's juiced by his Mott The Hoople cover band.

Chris Frantz - "Genius of Love"They're Playing My Song

Chris and his wife Tina were the rhythm section for Talking Heads when they formed The Tom Tom Club. "Genius of Love" was their blockbuster, but David Byrne only mentioned it once.

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real GroupSong Writing

The leader of the Modern A Cappella movement talks about the genre.