Crooner

A crooner is a singer who performs with a smooth, intimate style that originated in the 1920s. The crooning style was made possible by improved microphones that picked up quieter sounds and a wider range of frequencies than before, allowing the singer to access a greater dynamic range and exploit the proximity effect. This suggestion of intimacy was supposedly wildly attractive to women, especially a youth subculture known at the time as "bobby soxers". The crooning style developed among singers who performed with big bands and reached its height in the 1940s to late 1960s. Crooning is epitomized by vocalists of the era such as Al Bowlly, Bing Crosby, Rudy Vallee and Frank Sinatra, although Sinatra did not consider himself or Crosby to be "crooners". Other performers, such as Russ Columbo, also rejected the term.