Songwriters Hall of Fame

The Mills Brothers, one of the most successful and longest running vocal groups of American popular music consisted of brothers Harry (b. August 19, 1913; d. June 28, 1982), Herbert (b. April 2, 1912; d. April 12, 1989) and Donald (b. April 29, 1915; d. November 13, 1999).

Accompanied by older brother John on guitar (and later their father, John, Sr.), their career began on Cincinnati radio in the 1920’s. Appearing in several movies, the brothers achieved national stardom with their first hit recording ‘Tiger Rag,’ which hit #1 on the pop charts in 1931.

Between 1931 through 1963, the brother charted more than 70 pop hits including five #1 recordings of ‘Tiger Rag’ (1931), ‘Dinah’ (1932), ‘Paper Doll’ (1943), ‘You Always Hurt the One You Love’ (1944) and ‘The Glow-Worm’ (1952).

In 1998, the Mills Brothers were honored with the Grammy for Lifetime Achievement.