Birthday profile

Rose Murphy

Rose Murphy, American singer (died 1989)

Born
April 28, 1913
Died
November 16, 1989
Zodiac sign
Taurus
Birth year
1913

About Rose Murphy

Rose Murphy (April 28, 1913 – November 16, 1989) was an American jazz pianist and singer, famous for the song "Busy Line" and her unique vocal style. == Music career == She was born in Xenia, Ohio, United States. Described by AllMusic's Scott Yanow as having "a unique place in music history", Murphy was known as "the chee chee girl" because of her habit of singing "chee chee" in many of her numbers. She was also known as "the girl with the pale pink voice". Murphy began her musical career in the late 1930s, playing intermission piano for such performers as Count Basie, and became popular in the United States and United Kingdom in the late 1940s. She is best known for her high-pitched singing style, which incorporated scat singing, giggling, and percussive sound effects. "Busy Line", one of her most well-known songs, made use of perhaps her most famous vocal sound effect: the 'brrp, brrrp' of a telephone ring. A version of the song by Peter Skellern was later used in 1990 by BT Cellnet in a television commercial which was such a success that RCA reissued the original recording. Princess Margaret became a fan after "Busy Line" became a hit in the United Kingdom. She attended Murphy's concerts in London, imitated her while playing the piano and sang "Busy Line" at parties.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

Rose Murphy timeline

  1. Rose Murphy (April 28, 1913 – November 16, 1989) was an American jazz pianist and singer, famous for the song "Busy Line" and her unique vocal style.
  2. During a two-week engagement at Hollywood Roosevelt's Cinegrill in June 1989, Murphy became ill and returned to New York City.

The world when Rose Murphy was born

Rose Murphy was born in 1913. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1913

  • Best-selling book"The Inside of the Cup" – Winston Churchill

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJim Thorpe stripped of Olympic titles over amateurism rules
  • Top headline16th Amendment allows federal income tax
  • Technology milestoneFord assembly line begins — revolutionizes manufacturing
  • World population~1.73B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWoodrow Wilson
  • U.S. population96.0M

1913 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Rose Murphy's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19132026
Postage stamp$0.02$0.73
Population96.0M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, MusicBrainz, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.