How much is Perry Como worth?
| Net Worth: | $45 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Singer |
| Date of Birth: | May 18, 1912 |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 1.68 m |
About Perry Como
Pierino Ronald “Perry” Como, an Italian-American singer, actor, and television personality (May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001), is thought to have had a net worth of $45 million. As the son of Italian immigrants, “Pierino” started contributing to the family income at age 11 by working after school at a barbershop, and for many years his goals were limited to one day owning a barbershop of his own. Perry Como’s almost absurdly laid-back, genial, neighborly, regular-guy demeanor came naturally to him.
But Perry also has a superb, innate baritone, and because he frequently sang while doing hair cuts, his true talent eventually emerged. By the time he finished high school, he had started singing, initially with Freddie Carlone and then with fellow Pennsylvanian Ted Weems of “heartaches” renown. He had done this on the suggestion of just about everyone close to him (later revisited by the Marcels).
Unfortunately, the WWII draft quickly disbanded Weems’ band, and Como—who was now attempting to start a family with his boyhood sweetheart—left the road for the more secure domestic environment of his former career. However, he decided to take the risk when CBS gave him his own consistent radio show, one that would let him commute from New York to his house every evening. Soon, Como was in the same league as crooners like Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, who was his idol. When television started to explode in popularity in the late 1940s, Perry, who had already starred in a number of movie musicals, was the ideal choice.
Middle America welcomed him onto their stereos as frequently as they did their living rooms during the Eisenhower era thanks to his Chesterfield Supper Club, Perry Como Show, and Kraft Music Hall; for roughly two decades, Como enjoyed a constant presence on the Billboard charts; his 42 Top 40 hits were rivaled only by Bing himself.
Though the adults of the Greatest Generation were more than glad to grow old with him, Como’s reputation as an adolescent idol was permanently lost when rock & roll became as much of a threat to him as it had been to everyone else established in pop. In fact, Perry’s look—complete with his incredibly smooth vocal delivery, contagious smile, and distinctively colored sweaters—became something of a cultural inside joke among baby boomers.
Nevertheless, the hits persisted for a long, beginning with novelty songs and progressing to a number of excellent Adult Contemporary numbers, including his final big hit “It’s Impossible,” which would later become his signature song. If anything, Como’s fame as a television host increased with time; his seemingly never-ending stream of Christmas specials made him synonymous with the season. In part as a result of the onset of Alzheimer’s, Perry halted his 60-year career in 1994. He passed away quietly in his sleep in 2001.
