June 1959

The following events occurred in June 1959:

June 1, 1959 (Monday)

June 2, 1959 (Tuesday)

1959

1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (dominical letter D) of the Gregorian calendar, the 1959th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 959th year of the 2nd millennium, the 59th year of the 20th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1950s decade.

Events

January

McGuire Sisters

The McGuire Sisters were a singing trio in American popular music. The group was composed of three sisters: Christine McGuire (born July 30, 1926); Dorothy McGuire (February 13, 1928 – September 7, 2012); and Phyllis McGuire (born February 14, 1931). Among their most popular songs are "Sincerely" and "Sugartime", both number one hits.

Early life

The McGuire sisters were born in Middletown, Ohio and grew up in Miamisburg. Their mother, Lillie, was a minister of the Miamisburg First Church of God (Anderson, Indiana), where, as young girls, they sang in the church at weddings, funerals and church revivals. When they started singing in 1935, the youngest sister, Phyllis, was four years old. Eventually, they sang at occasions outside church and, by 1949, were singing at military bases and veterans' hospitals. They incorporated a more diverse repertoire for those events.

Career in show business

They signed with Coral Records in 1952. That same year they appeared on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, and Godfrey hired them for his other shows, where they remained for seven years. Cosmopolitan's November 1953 issue called them "Godfrey's Merry McGuires." The sisters often were compared to The Andrews Sisters. Maxene Andrews once said during an interview with Joe Franklin on WOR (AM) Radio in 1979, "The McGuire Sisters were fine once they stopped imitating The Andrews Sisters."