Top 885 Artists-Number 8-Irving Berlin

I wanted to include in my top 10 list a representative of The Great American Songbook, and it's hard to think of someone who has been bigger than Irving Berlin. Although he never read music beyond a basic level, he composed the lyrics and/or music for over 3,000 songs.

"White Christmas," originally written for the Bing Crosby film Holiday Inn, became a huge hit in the late 1940s, and was, until a few years ago, the biggest-selling single in history. A proud patriot, Berlin also wrote "God Bless America," made most famous by Kate Smith.

And, there are other great songs as well: "Alexander's Ragtime Band", "Easter Parade," "Cheek To Cheek", "Isn't This A Lovely Day", "Puttin' On The Ritz", "Steppin' Out With My Baby", and "Supper Time". He wrote the music and lyrics for Rogers' and Hammerstein's Broadway smash hit, Annie Get Your Gun. Then there's the light-as-a-feather "Blue Skies", originally written for the Rodgers and Hart musical Betsy. The lyrics were re-done when the movie Blue Skies, starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, was made.