Singer and bandleader Cab Calloway was born in Rochester, New York, in 1907. He learned the art of scat singing before landing a regular gig at Harlem’s famous Cotton Club. Following the enormous success of his song “Minnie the Moocher” (1931), Calloway became one of the most popular entertainers of the 1930s and ’40s. He appeared on stage and in films before his death in 1994, at age 86, in Hockessin, Delaware.

In 1930, Calloway got a gig at Harlem’s famed Cotton Club. Soon, as the bandleader of Cab Calloway and his Orchestra, he became a regular performer at the popular nightspot. Calloway hit the big time with “Minnie the Moocher” (1931), a No. 1 song that sold more than one million copies. The tune’s famous call-and-response “hi-de-hi-de-ho” chorus—improvised when he couldn’t recall a lyric—became Calloway’s signature phrase for the rest of his career.