Birth name Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr.
Born September 11, 1967 (1967-09-11) (age 43)
Origin New Orleans, Louisiana
United States
Genres Swing, traditional pop, big band, jazz-funk
Occupations Singer, pianist, actor, composer, comedian
Instruments Vocals, piano
Years active 1977–present
Labels Adco Productions (1977–1979)
Columbia Records (1979–present)
Marsalis Music (2003–present)
Connick at Tulane University May 16, 2009
Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. (born September 11, 1967) is an American singer, actor, composer and pianist. Connick has sold over 25 million albums worldwide.[1] He is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with 16 million certified albums.[2] He has seven top-20 U.S. albums, and ten number-one U.S. jazz albums, earning more number-one albums than any other artist in the US jazz chart history.[3] Connick's best selling album in the US is his 1993 Christmas album When My Heart Finds Christmas, which also is one of the best selling Christmas albums in the United States. His highest charting album, is his 2004 release Only You which reached #5 in the US and #6 in the UK. He has won three Grammy awards and one Emmy Award. He played Grace's husband Dr. Leo Markus on the TV sitcom Will & Grace from 2002 to 2006.
Connick began his acting career as a tail gunner in the World War II film Memphis Belle in 1990. He played a serial killer in Copycat in 1995, before being cast as jet fighter pilot in the 1996 blockbuster Independence Day. Connick's first role as a leading man was in 1998's Hope Floats with Sandra Bullock. His first thriller film since Copycat came in 2007, when he played the violent ex-husband in Bug, before two romantic comedies, 2007's P.S. I Love You, and the leading man in New in Town with Renée Zellweger in 2009.
Early life
Harry Connick, Jr. was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.[4] His father, Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Sr., was the district attorney of Orleans Parish from 1977–2003, and his mother, Anita (née Livingston; May 22, 1926 — July 1981), was a lawyer and judge in New Orleans and, later, a Louisiana Supreme Court justice.[5][6] His parents also owned a record store. Connick, Jr.'s father is Irish American, and Connick, Jr.'s mother, who died from ovarian cancer, was Jewish.[7][8] Connick, Jr. has a sister, Suzanna; the siblings were raised in the Lakeview neighborhood of New Orleans. Connick's musical talents soon came to the fore when he started learning the keyboards at the age of three, played publicly at age six and recorded with a local jazz band at ten.[9]
When Connick, Jr. was nine years old, he performed the Piano Concerto No. 3 Opus 37 of Beethoven with the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra (now the Louisiana Philharmonic) and later played a duet with Eubie Blake at the Royal Orleans Esplanade Lounge in New Orleans. The song was "I'm Just Wild About Harry". This was recorded for a Japanese documentary called Jazz Around the World.[9][10] The clip was also shown in a Bravo special, called Worlds of Harry Connick, Jr. in 1999. His musical talents were developed at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and under the tutelage of Ellis Marsalis and James Booker.
Connick attended Jesuit High School, Isidore Newman School as well as New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, in New Orleans. Following an unsuccessful attempt to study jazz academically, and having given recitals in the classical and jazz piano programs at Loyola University, Connick moved to the 92nd Street YMHA in New York City to study at Hunter College and the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, where a Columbia Records executive persuaded him to sign with that label. His first record for the label, Harry Connick Jr., was a mainly instrumental album of standards. He soon acquired a reputation in jazz because of extended stays at high-profile New York venues. His next album, 20, featured his vocals and added to this reputation.
When Harry Met Sally..., chart and movie success
With Connick's growing reputation, director Rob Reiner asked him to provide a soundtrack for his 1989 romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally..., starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal. The soundtrack consisted of several standards, including "It Had to Be You", "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", and achieved double-platinum status in the United States. He won his first Grammy for Best Jazz Male Vocal Performance for his work on the soundtrack.
Connick made his screen debut in Memphis Belle (1990), about a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber crew in World War II. In that year, he began a two-year world tour. In addition, he released two albums in July 1990: the instrumental jazz trio album Lofty's Roach Souffle and a big-band album of mostly original songs titled We Are in Love, which also went double platinum. We Are in Love earned him his second consecutive Grammy for Best Jazz Male Vocal.
"Promise Me You'll Remember", his contribution to the Godfather III soundtrack, was nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe in 1991. In a year of recognition, he was also nominated for an Emmy for Best Performance in a Variety Special for his PBS special Swingin' Out Live, which was also released as a video. In October 1991, he released his third consecutive multi-platinum album, Blue Light, Red Light, on which he wrote and arranged the songs. In October 1991, he starred in Little Man Tate, directed by Jodie Foster, playing the friend of a child prodigy who goes to college.
Connick was arrested in 1992 and charged with having a 9mm pistol in his possession at JFK International Airport. After spending a day in jail, he agreed to make a public-service television commercial warning against breaking gun laws. The court agreed to drop all charges if Connick stayed out of trouble for six months. In November 1992, Connick released 25, a solo piano collection of standards that again went platinum. He also re-released the album Eleven. Connick contributed "A Wink and a Smile" to the Sleepless in Seattle soundtrack, released in 1993. His multi-platinum album of holiday songs, When My Heart Finds Christmas, was the best-selling Christmas album in 1993.
Flirtation with funk in the mid-1990s
In 1994, Connick decided to branch out. He released She, an album of New Orleans funk that also went platinum. In addition, he released a song called "(I Could Only) Whisper Your Name" for the soundtrack of The Mask, starring Jim Carrey, which is his most successful single in the United States to date.[citation needed]
Connick took his funk music on a tour of the United Kingdom in 1994, an effort that did not please some of his fans, who were expecting a jazz crooner. Connick also took his funk music to the People's Republic of China in 1995, playing at the Shanghai Center Theatre. The performance was televised live in China for what became known as the Shanghai Gumbo special. In his third film Copycat, Connick played a serial killer. Released in 1995, Copycat also starred Holly Hunter and Sigourney Weaver. The following year, he released his second funk album, Star Turtle, which did not sell as well as previous albums, although it did reach No. 38 on the charts. However, he appeared in the most successful movie of 1996,[11] Independence Day, with Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum.
Back to basics: return to jazz and Hope Floats
For his 1997 release To See You, Connick recorded original love songs, touring the United States and Europe with a full symphony orchestra backing him and his piano in each city. As part of his tour, he played at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, with his final concert of that tour in Paris being recorded for a Valentine's Day special on PBS in 1998. He also continued his film career, starring in Excess Baggage opposite Alicia Silverstone and Benicio del Toro in 1997.
In May 1998, he had his first leading role in director Forest Whitaker's Hope Floats, with Sandra Bullock as his female lead. He released Come By Me, his first album of big band music in eight years in 1999, and embarked on a world tour visiting the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia. In addition, he provided the voice of Dean McCoppin in the animated film The Iron Giant.
2000–2002: Broadway debut, musicals, Will & Grace
Connick wrote the score for Susan Stroman's Broadway musical Thou Shalt Not, based on Émile Zola's novel Thérèse Raquin, in 2000; it premiered in 2001. His music and lyrics garnerned a Tony Award nomination. He was also the narrator of the film My Dog Skip, released in that year.
In March 2001, Connick starred in a television production of South Pacific with Glenn Close, televised on the ABC network. He also starred in his twelfth movie, Mickey, featuring a screenplay by John Grisham that same year. In October 2001, he again released two albums: Songs I Heard, featuring big band re-workings of children's show themes, and 30, featuring Connick on piano with guest appearances by several other musical artists. Songs I Heard won Connick another Grammy for best traditional pop album and he toured performing songs from the album, holding matinees at which each parent had to be accompanied by a child.
In 2002, he received a U.S. Patent 6,348,648 for a "system and method for coordinating music display among players in an orchestra."[12] Connick appeared as Grace Adler's boyfriend (and later husband) Leo Markus on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace from 2002 to 2006.
2003–2005: Connick on Piano and Only You
In July 2003, Connick released his first instrumental album in fifteen years, Other Hours Connick on Piano Volume 1. It was released on Branford Marsalis's new label Marsalis Music and led to a short tour of nightclubs and small theaters. Connick appeared in the film Basic. In October 2003, he released his second Christmas album, Harry for the Holidays, which went gold and reached No. 12 on the Billboard 200 album chart. He also had a television special on NBC featuring Whoopi Goldberg, Nathan Lane, Marc Anthony and Kim Burrell. Only You, his seventeenth album for Columbia Records, was released in February 2004. A collection of 1950s and 1960s ballads, Only You, went Top Ten on both sides of the Atlantic and was certified gold in the United States in March 2004. The Only You tour with big band went on in America, Australia and a short trip to Asia. Harry for the Holidays was certified platinum in November 2004. A music DVD Harry Connick Jr. — "Only You" in Concert was released in March 2004, after it had first aired as a Great Performances special on PBS. The special won him an Emmy for Outstanding Music Direction. The DVD received a Gold & Platinum Music Video — Long Form awards from the RIAA in November 2005.
An animated holiday special, The Happy Elf, aired on NBC in December 2005, with Connick as the composer, the narrator, and one of the executive producers. Shortly after, it was released on DVD. The holiday special was based on his original song The Happy Elf, from his 2003 album Harry for the Holidays. Another album from Marsalis Music was recorded in 2005, Occasion : Connick on Piano, Volume 2, a duo album with Harry Connick, Jr. on piano together with Branford Marsalis on saxophone. A music DVD, A Duo Occasion, was filmed at the Ottawa International Jazz Festival 2005 in Canada, and released in November 2005.
He appeared in another episode of NBC sitcom Will & Grace in November 2005, and appeared in an additional three episodes in 2006.
2006–2008: The Pajama Game, Bug and P.S. I Love You
Harry Connick, Jr. in concert, Savannah, Georgia, Feb 27, 2007
Bug, a film directed by William Friedkin, is a psychological thriller filmed in 2005, starring Connick, Ashley Judd, and Michael Shannon. The film was released in 2007. He starred in the Broadway revival of The Pajama Game, produced by the Roundabout Theater Company, along with Michael McKean and Kelli O'Hara, at the American Airlines Theatre in 2006. It ran from February 23 to June 17, 2006, including five benefit performances running from June 13 to June 17. The Pajama Game cast recording was nominated for a Grammy, after being released as part of Connick's double disc album Harry on Broadway, Act I.
He hosted The Weather Channel's mini series 100 Biggest Weather Moments which aired in 2007. He was part of the documentary Note by Note: The Making of Steinway L1037, released in November 2007. He sat in on piano on Bob French's 2007 album Marsalis Music Honors Series: Bob French. He appeared in the film P.S. I Love You, released in December 2007. A third album in the Connick on Piano series, Chanson du Vieux Carré was released in 2007, and Connick received two Grammy nominations for the track "Ash Wednesday", for the Grammy awards in 2008. Chanson du Vieux Carré was released simultaneously with the album Oh, My NOLA. Connick toured North America and Europe in 2007, and toured Asia and Australia in 2008, as part of his My New Orleans Tour. Connick did the arrangements for, wrote a couple of songs, and sang a duet on Kelli O'Hara's album that was released in May 2008.[13] He was also the featured singer at the Concert of Hope immediately preceding Pope Benedict XVI's Mass at Yankee Stadium in April 2008. He had the starring role of Dr. Dennis Slamon in the 2008 Lifetime TV film Living Proof. His third Christmas album, What a Night!, was released in November 2008.
2009–present: New in Town, Your Songs
Harry Connick, Jr. and Renée Zellweger at the Rachael Ray show, January 30, 2009.
The film New in Town starring Connick and Renée Zellweger, began filming in January 2008, and was released in January 2009. Connick's album Your Songs was released on CD, September 22, 2009. In contrast to Connick's previous albums, this album is a collaboration with a record company producer, the multiple Grammy Award winning music executive Clive Davis.[1]
American Idol
Connick appeared on the May 4, 2010 episode of American Idol where he acted as a mentor for the top 5 finalists. He appeared again on the May 5 episode of the talent show where he performed "And I Love Her".
Touring Big Band members
The following musicians have toured as the Harry Connick, Jr., Big Band since its inception in 1990:[14]
