(Gibson) On this day in 1977, Mary Ford died from cancer after being in a diabetic coma for 54 days. She was one half of the husband-and-wife musical team, Les Paul and Mary Ford. Gibson looks back: At the height of their fame, Les Paul and Mary Ford seemed unstoppable. In the late '40s and early '50s, the husband-and-wife team conquered the worlds of radio, television and music. By combining musical artistry, technical wizardry and natural charm, the married duo became all-around superstars. Even still, it's amazing to hear that they had no less than 16 Top 10 hits in a five-year span (1950-54).
Before Mary became one of the premier pop stars of her era, she had been singing for most of her life, although not much of it as "Mary Ford." In 1924, she was born Iris Colleen Summers and grew up in quite a musical family. Before she was born, her mother and father – a minister – had moved from Missouri to southern California, where they sang gospel music over the airwaves of Pasadena's first Christian radio station. Her brothers and sisters were all singers or musicians, encouraged to do so by their parents. more on this story
