Turner Layton (July 2, 1894 – February 6, 1978), born John Turner Layton, Jr., was an American songwriter, singer and pianist. Born in Washington, D.C., in 1894, he was the son of John Turner Layton, "a bass singer, music educator and hymn composer." After receiving a musical education from his father, he attended the Howard University Dental School, later coming to New York City in the early 1900s, where he met future songwriting partner, lyricist Henry Creamer. He is best known for his many compositions with Creamer, the best known of which is the jazz standard "After You've Gone", which was written in 1918 and first popularized by Sophie Tucker. The two contributed music and lyrics to many Broadway shows, including the Ziegfeld Follies of 1917, 1921 and 1922, Three Showers (1920), Some Party (1922) and Creamer's own Strut Miss Lizzie (1922). Beginning in 1924, Layton found major popular success in England with Clarence "Tandy" Johnstone as member of the group Layton & Johnstone, quickly earning a reputation as a cabaret act, with the pair allegedly selling over "10 million records." He split with Johnstone in 1935, with Johnstone returning to New York and continuing to perform with significantly less success and Turner continuing to perform in England. An elegant song stylist, Turner had held a regular, successful spot over the years at the Café de Paris, a London club, until his retirement in 1946. He died in London in February 1978. Two compilation albums of recordings by Layton have been released on CD. His daughter A'Lelia Shirley inherited his musical estate and left the copyright and royalties to her father's music to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London (UK) in her will on her death in January 2001.

Ruth Etting (November 23, 1897 — September 24, 1978) was an American singing star and actress of the 1920s and 1930s, who had over 60 hit recordings and worked in stage, radio, and film. She is known as "America's sweetheart of song". Her signature tunes were "Shine On Harvest Moon", "Ten Cents a Dance" and "Love Me or Leave Me". Her other popular recordings included "Button Up Your Overcoat", "Mean to Me", "Exactly Like You" and "Shaking the Blues Away".

Ruth Etting was born in David City, Nebraska in 1897 to Alfred and Winifred (née Kleinhan) Etting. On her mother's death when she was five years old, she went to live with her paternal grandparents, George and Hannah Etting. Alfred Etting remarried and moved away from David City and largely out of his daughter's life.

Ruth Etting left David City at the age of seventeen to attend art school in Chicago. Her job designing costumes at the Marigold Gardens nightclub led to employment singing and dancing in the chorus there. She became a featured vocalist at the nightclub, and married gangster Martin "Moe the Gimp" Snyder on July 12, 1922. He managed her career, booking radio appearances, and eventually had her signed to an exclusive recording contract with Columbia Records. She made her Broadway debut in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1927. She went on to appear in a number of other hit shows in rapid succession, including Simple Simon and Whoopee!. In Hollywood, she made a long series of movie shorts between 1929 and 1936, and three feature movies in 1933 and 1934. In 1936, she appeared in London in Ray Henderson's Transatlantic Rhythm.^{[citation needed]}

Elisabeth Welch (19 February 1904 – 15 July 2003) was a singer, actress, and entertainer, whose career spanned seven decades. Her best-known songs were "Stormy Weather", "Love for Sale" and "Far Away in Shanty Town". She was American-born but was based in Britain for most of her career.

Elisabeth Margaret Welch was born on 19 February 1904 in Englewood, New Jersey, where her father was chief gardener of an estate. Her father was of indigenous American and African American ancestry; her mother was of Scottish and Irish descent. Elisabeth was brought up in a Baptist Christian family, and began her singing in a church choir.

She first intended to go from high school into social work, but instead chose to became a professional singer. She started her career in America, in New York, in 1922, but in 1929 she went on to Europe - first to Paris and then to London, which became her base for the rest of her life. In 1928 she was married to Luke Smith, a musician, and remained with him until his death in 1936; they had no children.

Henry Creamer (June 21, 1879 – October 14, 1930) was an American popular song lyricist. He was born in Richmond, Virginia and died in New York. He co-wrote many popular songs in the years from 1900 to 1929, often collaborating with Turner Layton, with whom he also appeared in vaudeville.

Creamer was a co-founder with James Reese Europe of the Clef Club, an important early African American musicians and entertainers organization in New York City.