Not only was Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong one of the greatest musicians who ever
lived, he was one of the most influential and best-loved. A jazz genius, he also
achieved unlikely crossover success late in his career as a pop singer and his
hit What A Wonderful World (recorded when he was 66) made him the oldest artist
to have a Number 1. The grandson of slaves, born to such poverty that his mother
was forced into prostitution Armstrong learned to play cornet at a home for
delinquents and at 13 was leading his first band, going on to replace his hero
Joe "King" Oliver in Kid Ory's b...