How Did Louis Armstrong Break A Racial Barrier

“Musicians do not retire; they stop when there is no more music in them.” (Powell 1). Louis Armstrong was an American trumpeter, composer, singer and occasional actor who was one of the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s, and different ears in jazz. Louis Armstrong is revolutionary for his innovations in music and the racial barriers he was able to break. Louis Armstrong was a revolutionary because; he was able to break so many barriers for the black people of America. One was Louis Armstrong was able to break some racial barriers was that through his music. “Hello Dolly gave him a No. 1 hit that knocked the Beatles out of the top spot for the first time in three months, and won the Grammy

Maybe Armstrong inventing scat-singing was a fluke, but people notice it and take notes. “During one particular song, Armstrong claims to have dropped the lyric sheet, and when the time came for the vocals, he sang horn-like nonsense syllables instead. With that one song, “Heebie Jeebies,” he literally invented ‘scat’ and opened up an entirely new world to singers.” (Scat-Singing 1). Armstrong is such a musical wizard, he basically improvised his vocal to the beat and little did he know he would change singing forever, he invented this with his song “Heebie Jeebies.” After that, scat-singing took off and many other young artists continued his tradition of scat-singing. After, Armstrong retired his scat-singing started influencing different types of music. “Scat-singing was quite often seen in gospel as well, by such artists as Karen Clark-Sheard, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, and Kin Burrell.” (Scat-Singing 2). Armstrong was able to influence such a wide range of artists and the way they sing, which made him an outstanding revolutionary. Armstrong’s scat-singing is now used in gospel music, which is remarkable that an accident revolutionized music that we know and love