BY MELISSA RUGGIERI/AJC Music Scene
The tragic passing of Debbie Reynolds one day after the untimely death of daughter Carrie Fisher immediately reminded fans of her indelible star turn in the musical, “Singin’ in the Rain.”
But in addition to her luminosity as an MGM film starlet, Reynolds, who died on Wednesday at 84, was a regular presence on the Billboard charts in the 1950s and 1960s.
As Billboard notes , her first hit song, "Aba Daba Honeymoon," with Carleton Carpenter, hit No. 3o on the pop singles chart in 1951. Later in the decade, she scored on what was then called the Most Played by Jockeys chart with "A Very Special Love" (which peaked at No. 20).
Reynolds’ most famous song, “Tammy,” sat at the top of the Top 100 chart in 1957 for five weeks (it complemented the Reynolds film “Tammy and the Bachelor”)
A couple of songs charted on the Hot 100 in 1960- “Am I That Easy to Forget” (No. 25) and “City Lights” (No. 55).
Reynolds landed on the Billboard 200 albums chart twice in her varied career – in 1966 with “The Singing Nun” (No. 23) and in 1984 with “Do it Debbie’s Way” (No. 182).
While the inimitable Fisher was respected for her career as an actress, author and mental health advocate, she, too, possessed a lovely singing voice, which she demonstrated with her mom during a 2011 interview with Oprah Winfrey.
