Jimmy Sturr Biography
Jimmy Sturr is a renowned American Grammy Award-winning polka musician, trumpeter, clarinetist, saxophonist, and leader of Jimmy Sturr & His Orchestra. His recordings have won 18 out of 24 Grammy Awards given for Best Polka Album. Moreover, his Orchestra is on the Top 10 List of the All-Time Grammy Awards and has received more Grammy nominations than any other in the history of musical polka awards.
Sturr has made several appearances on radio shows such as WTBQ where he works as a Host and it’s a station that he once owned. In addition, he hosts a weekly radio show on the Rural Radio Channel on SiriusXM.
Jimmy Sturr Age
How old is Jimmy Sturr? Sturr is 81 years old as of 2022. He was born on September 25, 1941, in Warwick, New York, the United States of America. In addition, Jimmy celebrates his birthday on September 25th every year and his birth sign is Libra.
Jimmy Sturr Wife
Sturr has managed to keep details about his relationships away from the limelight. However, rumors have been spreading that he once dated Barbara James. However, these claims are yet to be confirmed. As of now, we cannot authenticate the information. Nevertheless, our team is working to update the section once the information is available.
Jimmy Sturr Family
Sturr was born and raised by his parents in Warwick, New York. However, he has not disclosed details about his parents and siblings to the public. We promise to update you once the information is available.
Jimmy Sturr Height
Sturr stands at an approximate height of 6 feet 3 inches (1.91)m and weighs 181 lbs (82.1 Kg).
Jimmy Sturr Net Worth
Sturr has an estimated net worth of $19 million. This includes his assets, money, and income. His income is mainly from his successful career as a Musician and Radio Talk Show Host.
Jimmy Sturr Career
Sturr was born in 1941 in the upstate New York community of Florida (he habitually shaved a decade off his age in interviews). Despite his Irish ancestry, he was immersed from a young age in the town’s primarily Polish-American culture, routinely attending polka dances and seeing his hero Myron Floren on The Lawrence Welk Show. He began playing the clarinet at the age of 13 and received a music scholarship to Valley Forge Military Academy.
Sturr returned to the polka circuit after college, where he continued to perform with his ensemble on a part-time basis and spent most of the 1960s performing and recording. In 1969, he founded Starr Records, his own record label.
Throughout the 1970s, he continued to record steadily as Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra, offering a distinctively Americanized version of polka, with largely English singers and an eye on popular trends (such as his 1979 double-LP experiment Polka Disco). Sturr also hired lead singer/saxophonist Johnny Karas in 1979, who would go on to play a significant role in the orchestra’s eventual success.
…..
After the Grammys added a new category for Best Polka Album in 1985, Sturr began to gain wider notoriety in the mid-’80s. Sturr’s CD I Remember Warsaw won the prize for the second time in 1986, kicking off a run of six consecutive wins from 1986 to 1991, including Polka Just for Me, Born to Polka, All in My Love for You, When It’s Polka Time at Your House, and Live at Gilley’s.
Sturr was recording for the folk-oriented Vanguard label at the time, and he was touring widely in support of his recordings, performing at casinos, cruises, festivals, and other such venues across the country. He shifted to the roots label Rounder in the early 1990s and returned to Grammy fame with 1995’s award-winning I Love to Polka.
Sturr made a successful engagement at the Grand Ole Opry, being the first polka performer to do so; he also performed at Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center in New York and flew to Warsaw, Poland, for a well-received performance at the Palace of Culture. In 1998, he bought Billy Ray Cyrus’ old tour bus and was inducted into the Polka Music Hall of Fame.
….
Sturr reignited his Grammy supremacy to begin the new millennium. Touched by a Polka, released in 2000, featured country icon Mel Tillis; Gone Polka, released in 2001, featured Willie Nelson and Brenda Lee; and Top of the World, released in 2002, included folk legend Arlo Guthrie and bluegrass artist Rhonda Vincent.
It was the first of four Grammy-winning albums in a row, with a variety of high-profile guests thanks to Rounder’s enhanced finances. Willie Nelson, an avowed fan, appeared on Polka! in 1996. All the Time featured Cajun accordionist Jo-El Sonnier; Living on Polka Time featured Tex-Mex accordion legend Flaco Jimenez (who would appear on several more Sturr albums) and country singer Bill Anderson; and Dance With Me, officially Sturr’s 100th album, featured Tex-Mex accordion legend Flaco Jimenez (who would appear on several more Sturr releases).