Harry Connick Jr.
A New Orleans pianist and singer who revived big-band swing for a modern generation and became a jazz-pop institution.
Born 1967 (age 59)·American musician and actor·Birthday: September 11·Generation X
Biography
Harry Connick Jr. arrived in the late 1980s not just as a prodigious talent, but as a cultural reset button. The New Orleans native, with his rakish charm and deep understanding of jazz tradition, almost single-handedly revived interest in classic swing and big-band music for a pop audience. His soundtrack to the film 'When Harry Met Sally...' was a smash, its sophisticated arrangements feeling both timeless and fresh. He is a virtuoso pianist with a warm, conversational baritone, leading orchestras with the authority of a bandleader from a bygone era. Beyond music, he has built a parallel career as a film and television actor and host, but his core identity remains that of a performer who makes complex jazz feel like an intimate, joyous party.
Generation X
1965–1980
The latchkey kids. Raised during divorce, recession, and the end of the Cold War. Skeptical, self-reliant, media-literate. They invented indie culture, grunge, and the early internet — then watched the Boomers take credit.
Harry was born in 1967, placing them squarely in the Generation X. The events that shaped this generation — economic uncertainty, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of personal computing — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Harry Was Born
The biggest hits of 1967
#1 Movie
The Jungle Book
Best Picture
In the Heat of the Night
#1 TV Show
The Andy Griffith Show
Harry's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1967Born
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1972Started school
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1980Became a teenager
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1983Could drive
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1985Could vote
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
1988Turned 21
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1997Turned 30
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2007Turned 40
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
2017Turned 50
#MeToo movement; solar eclipse crosses the US
Gas: $2.42/galHome: $195,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Shape of You" — Ed SheeranBest Picture: The Shape of Water
2026Age 59 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Sold over 30 million records worldwide, with multiple albums topping the U.S. jazz charts.
- Recorded the multi-platinum soundtrack for 'When Harry Met Sally...', reintroducing big-band music to a mass audience.
- Holds the record for the most number-one albums on the U.S. jazz chart.
- Starred in numerous Broadway productions, films, and served as a judge on 'American Idol'.
Did You Know?
He performed in New Orleans jazz clubs as a child and released his first album at age 10.
He is a licensed pilot and has flown relief missions to his hometown after hurricanes.
He provided the voice of the hunky hunter 'Darryl' in the animated film 'The Iron Giant'.
“I'm from New Orleans. We dance even if there's no music.”
