# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/billy-eckstine
# Generated: 2026-08-14T11:06:25.778Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/billy-eckstine"
name: "Billy Eckstine"
slug: "billy-eckstine"
description: "William Clarence Eckstine was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award \"for performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording\". His recording of \"I Apologize\" was given the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999. The New York Times described him as an \"influential band leader\" whose \"suave bass-baritone\" and \"full-throated, sugary approach to popular songs inspired singers such as Earl Coleman, Johnny Hartman, Joe Williams, Arthur Prysock, and Lou Rawls.\""
tagline: "American musician (1914–1993)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Portrait_of_Billy_Eckstine%2C_New_York%2C_N.Y.%2C_between_1946_and_1948_(LOC).jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Musicians"
  slug: "musicians"
profileType:
  name: "Singer / Musician"
  slug: "singer"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q177220"
birthDate: "1914-07-08"
deathDate: "1993-03-08"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           52.56
  momentum:             0.284846183061147
  historical:           19.46164266666667
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     70
  profileCompleteness:  80
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
platforms:
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0248751/"
    handle:    "nm0248751"
  - platform:  "SPOTIFY"
    url:       "https://open.spotify.com/artist/6htazaFMy8zs0f3sMtM2Pt"
    handle:    "Billy Eckstine"
sources:
  - url: "https://www.discogs.com/artist/311744"
    title: "Discogs"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%89_%D8%A7%D9%83%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%8A%D9%86"
    title: "بيلى اكستين"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Eckstine"
    title: "Billy Eckstine"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Eckstine"
    title: "Billy Eckstine"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Eckstine"
    title: "Billy Eckstine"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Eckstine"
    title: "Billy Eckstine"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Eckstine"
    title: "Billy Eckstine"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Eckstine"
    title: "Billy Eckstine"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%DB%8C%D9%84%DB%8C_%D8%A7%DA%A9%D8%B3%D8%AA%DB%8C%D9%86"
    title: "بیلی اکستین"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Eckstine"
    title: "Billy Eckstine"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Eckstine"
    title: "Billy Eckstine"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Eckstine"
    title: "Billy Eckstine"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Eckstine"
    title: "Billy Eckstine"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Eckstine"
    title: "Billy Eckstine"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%93%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A8%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B9%E3%82%BF%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3"
    title: "ビリー・エクスタイン"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://nds.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Eckstine"
    title: "Billy Eckstine"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Eckstine"
    title: "Billy Eckstine"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Eckstine"
    title: "Billy Eckstine"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Eckstine"
    title: "Billy Eckstine"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Eckstine"
    title: "Billy Eckstine"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%AD%D0%BA%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BD%2C_%D0%91%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%BB%D0%B8"
    title: "Экстайн, Билли"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D1%96%D0%BB%D0%BB%D1%96_%D0%95%D0%BA%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BD"
    title: "Біллі Екстайн"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://musicbrainz.org/artist/dc335fdb-9bc6-42ca-86a1-e652318764cc"
    title: "MusicBrainz"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q545464"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1232033"
    title: "Billy Eckstine"
    type:  "DATABASE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump