American big band and pop singer.
He started his career as a featured vocalist with Harry James in the late 1940s. In 1950 he appeared regularly on the Kate Smith show and signed a contract with London Records. Over the next few years he recorded for B.B.S. and Coral.
He had semi-retired from show business, working in an appliance store in Cleveland, when in 1955 he was repackaged and began recording for Decca as Joe Barrett.