Ray Henderson composed hundreds of songs during the Tin Pan Alley era from the early 1920s through the mid-1930s, creating numerous enduring standards for Broadway revues and Hollywood films. His most celebrated work came through collaboration with lyricists Lew Brown and Buddy DeSylva, forming the trio DeSylva, Brown and Henderson from 1925 to 1930. Henderson's most famous composition, "Bye Bye Blackbird" (1926), written with lyricist Mort Dixon, became a widely performed jazz standard. Other major hits include "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue," "I'm Sitting on Top of the World," "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries," and "The Birth of the Blues." His songs became Great American Songbook staples frequently covered in jazz and pop contexts.
