Crosby’s nephew, Howard, reflected on his uncle’s life and career in a 2016 interview with The Spokesman-Review. Crosby, who died in 1977 at age 74, was born in Tacoma and raised in Spokane. Today, his childhood home is preserved as a museum on the campus of Gonzaga University, his alma mater.
Crosby first performed “White Christmas” in the 1942 film Holiday Inn, which featured music by Irving Berlin. Released in August 1942, the movie helped introduce the song, but it was the war that turned it into something much bigger. As American troops were sent overseas, the song spread quickly through the fall and winter, especially on Armed Forces radio.
Music writer Jody Rosen later explained to The New York Times that the song struck a powerful chord with homesick GIs. It reminded them of the country they missed and the life they hoped to return to. Even though the lyrics never mention war, “White Christmas” became one of its most meaningful anthems.
The song went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song and became the best-selling single of all time—a record it still holds. Many artists have recorded it over the years, but Crosby’s calm baritone remains the version most people know and love.
During the war, Crosby didn’t just sing in studios. He traveled to Europe to perform live for American troops. Howard Crosby said he once asked his uncle about the hardest moment of his career. Bing didn’t hesitate.
In December 1944, Crosby was part of a USO show in northern France with Bob Hope and The Andrews Sisters. The performance was held outdoors, in the cold, with tens of thousands of soldiers watching.
When Crosby sang “White Christmas,” the reaction was overwhelming.
“At the end of the show,” Howard recalled, “he had to stand there and sing ‘White Christmas’ with 100,000 G.I.s in tears—without breaking down himself.”
The moment became even more heartbreaking in hindsight. Just days later, many of those soldiers were killed in the Battle of the Bulge, the largest and bloodiest battle fought by U.S. forces during the war. It began on December 16, 1944, and marked the Nazis’ final major offensive.
A decade later, Crosby returned to the song in the 1954 film White Christmas, starring Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. In the movie, Crosby and Kaye play former soldiers who put on a show to honor their old general—a storyline that quietly echoes the song’s deep connection to World War II.
By 1953, The New York Times summed it up simply, calling “White Christmas” a “national institution.”
For Crosby, though, it was more than a holiday classic. It was a reminder of a night when music, memory, and loss came together—and when keeping it together on stage was the hardest thing he ever had to do.
Tags:
News
