Leon Redbone

Leon Redbone was an enigmatic singer and guitarist who cultivated a mysterious persona (dark glasses, Panama hat, and a deliberate refusal to discuss his personal history) while performing meticulously researched interpretations of pre-war jazz, blues, ragtime, and Tin Pan Alley songs. His deep, crooning vocal style and fingerpicking guitar evoked the 1920s and 1930s, and his performances on Saturday Night Live in the 1970s brought vintage American music to a wide audience. His actual identity and origins remained deliberately obscure; he was believed to have been born Dickran Gobalian in Cyprus. His recordings for Warner Bros. and other labels were loving tributes to the pre-war era.