Frankie Yankovic

Frankie Yankovic was an American accordion player and bandleader, known as "America's Polka King" and the leading name of the Slovenian-style polka. He was born Frank John Yankovic on 28 July 1915 in Davis, West Virginia, to Slovene immigrant parents: his father Andrew (Andrej Jankovič) came from Kal and his mother Rose (Terezija Mele) from Cerknica. That Slovene family is why he is on Muzika-Balkan under Slovenia, and the Slovenian Wikipedia calls him an "American Slovene". Most of his music is instrumental; he sang in English.

He grew up in Collinwood, the Slovene neighbourhood on the East Side of Cleveland, where he loved the brass bands at Slovene social events. A boarder in the family home, Max Zelodec, played Slovenian tunes on a button box, and Frankie got his first accordion at nine. By his early teens he was playing at community events, and in the 1930s he was heard on Cleveland radio. His first records were made at his own expense.

During the Second World War he served in Europe and was badly frostbitten in the Battle of the Bulge, but refused to have his fingers amputated. After the war he broke through nationally with "Just Because" (1947) and "Blue Skirt Waltz" (1949), both platinum singles. In 1948 he won the title of America's Polka King at a battle of the bands in Milwaukee. He later hosted the television series Polka Time and recorded with Chet Atkins, Don Everly and Doris Day.

He recorded more than 200 songs and sold over 30 million records. In 1986 his album 70 Years of Hits won the first Grammy for Best Polka Recording. He visited his parents' hometown of Cerknica in the early 1950s and again in 1995, when he was honoured for promoting Slovene culture abroad. "Weird Al" Yankovic, no relation, guested on his "Who Stole the Kishka?" in 1996.

Frankie Yankovic lived in Cleveland for most of his life. He died of heart failure on 14 October 1998 in New Port Richey, Florida, and is buried in Cleveland's Calvary Cemetery. In 2007 a square near where he grew up in Cleveland was named after him.