Joni James
Joni James (born Giovanna Carmella Babbo, September 22, 1930 – February 20, 2022) was an American pop singer born in Chicago, Illinois. Her career lasted from 1952 until 1964. James was known for her single "Why Don't You Believe Me?" (1952). She also performed "Almost Always" and "Is it Any Wonder?".
Joni was born into an Italian family on September 22, 1930. Her father Angelo Babbo sang operatic arias as a young shepherd boy in Italy before migrating to the United States at the age of 18; he died at the age of 36 when Giovanna was only 5 years old, forcing her mother Mary Chereso to raise six children all by herself, a great challenge during the Great Depression [1]. Growing up, Giovanna studied both dance and ballet, becoming a dancer at the young age of 12 and modeling by the time she was a student in high school.[2] When she graduated high school she became the member of a local dance group and toured with them in Canada in the late 1940s. Afterwards she became a chorus girl at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago; it was by this time that Giovanna decided to change her first name to "Joni" after her high school newspaper constantly misspelled it, and then afterwards while modeling she was told to find a new surname, to which she responded by opening a phone book and choosing "James" at random. When she decided to take a turn into the musical industry, she first recorded for Sharp Records before being noticed in a television commercial by executives at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, leading to her signing to MGM in 1952.
At the age of 22 Joni made her first hit, "Why Don't You Believe Me?", which sold over 2 million copies and topped the U.S. chart, spending three weeks at the summit in December 1952 and beginning a streak of eight Top 20 singles from 1952-53.[3] The song was also later featured in the 1981 raunchy comedy Porky's. Afterwards she continued to make such hits as "Almost Always" and "Have You Heard?". In 1953 she released her cover of Hank Williams' "Your Cheatin' Heart", which reached second place on Billboard's Most Played in Jukeboxes[4] .
In 1956 the newly dubbed "Queen of Hearts" married her manager and conductor Anthony Acquaviva at the St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York.
James died on February 20, 2022 at the age of 91 at a hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida.[5]
References
- ↑ Seelye, Katharine Q. (2022-03-04). "Joni James, 91, Heartfelt Chanteuse of the 1950s, Dies" (in en-US). The New York Times. . https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/04/arts/music/joni-james-dead.html. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
- ↑ Pedersen, Erik. Joni James Dies: 1950s Pop Star Who Sang ‘Why Don’t You Believe Me?’ Was 91 (in en-US). Deadline (2022-02-25). Retrieved 2026-04-29.
- ↑ Chad. Joni James (in en-US). Hollywood Walk of Fame (2019-10-25). Retrieved 2026-04-29.
- ↑ Your Cheatin' Heart (in en). Wikipedia (2025-09-12). Retrieved 2026-04-29.
- ↑ Barnes, Mike. Joni James, Popular songstress of the 1950s, dies at 91. The Hollywood Reporter (25 February 2022). Retrieved 26 February 2022.
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