Songwriters Hall of Fame

Marion Harris was one of the 1920’s most popular singers recording over 40 hits for the Victor, Brunswick and Columbia labels and appearing as a featured vocalist in several Broadway musicals.

Harris was born Mary Ellen Harris in 1896 Kentucky. Her recording career began in 1916 with ‘I’m Gonna Make Hay While the Sun Shines in Virginia.’ The recording reached the top ten on the Billboard charts and started a string of hit recordings including ‘I Ain’t Got Nobody Much’ (#5, 1917), ‘Paradise Blues’ (#7, 1917), ‘Everybody’s Crazy ’Bout the Doggone Blues (But I’m Happy)’ (#3, 1918), ‘They Go Wild, Simply Wild, Over Me’ (#2, 1917), ‘When Alexander Takes his Ragtime Band to France’ (#4, 1918), ‘There’s a Lump of Sugar Down in Dixie’ (#8, 1918), ‘After You’ve Gone’ (#1, 1919), ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’ (#2, 1919), ‘Jazz Baby’ (#3, 1919), ‘Look For the Silver Lining’ (#1, 1921) and ‘Tea for Two’ (#1, 1925).

In 1927, Harris starred in the Broadway hit Yours Truly with Irene Dunne.

Marion Harris died in a fire at the Hotel Le Marquis in New York City on April 23, 1944.