May 4, 1959 – Iowa’s Music Man – Meredith Willson – is presented with a Grammy Award – the very first ever awarded – for his Broadway soundtrack album – The Music Man.
Meredith Willson (May 18, 1902 – June 15, 1984) distinguished himself as a writer of symphonic works and popular songs. His most famous work, The Music Man, premiered on Broadway in 1957, and was adapted twice for film (1962 and 2003). The idea for the show began in 1949, when he was reminiscing with friends about his childhood years in Mason City, Iowa. Willson referred to the show as “an Iowan’s attempt to pay tribute to his home state.”
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