Who was Toots Thielemans? Google Doodle celebrates the Belgian musician and composer
ACCOMPLISHED musician Toots Thielemans was highly recognized for his contributions to the genre of jazz.
To celebrate Thielemans' life and career, Google Doodles paid tribute to him for what would have been his 100th birthday.
Who was Toots Thielemans?
Born on April 29, 1922, much of Toots Thielemans' early life was spent in Belgium.
The Belgian jazz professional was well respected for his harmonica, guitar, and composing skills.
He moved to the United States in 1952 and joined Charlie Parker and his band, the All-Stars.
During this time, he also worked with classic stars such as Dinah Washington, Miles Davis, and Ella Fitzgerald.
In 1961, Thielemans gained even more attention for his popular jazz standard, Bluesette, which featured his trademark whistling skills.
He also worked several times with famed music producer Quincy Jones.
Quincy often referred to him as "one of the greatest musicians of our time."
The jazz player contributed to various motion picture soundtracks as well.
most read in google doodles
His soundtrack credits include The Midnight Cowboy, The Getaway, The Sugarland Express, and numerous others.
One of Thielemans' most heard compositions is the harmonica-heavy ending theme for Sesame Street.
What was Toots Thielemans' cause of death?
On August 22, 2016, news broke of Toots Thielemans' death.
At the age of 94, the jazz player's death was confirmed to Belgian media by his agency.
His agency attributed his passing to suffering health complications sustained from a previous fall.
He was buried in his home country of Belgium.
What is a Google Doodle?
The first-ever Google Doodle was designed by co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and honored The Burning Man event in Nevada.
Subsequent Doodles have been designed by other people and a specific team of people called Doodlers.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
By 2019, the team had created over 4,000 Doodles for Google homepages around the world.
Google releases Doodles to celebrate anniversaries, birthdays, or other notable throughout history.
We pay for your stories!
Do you have a story for The US Sun team?
Email us at [email protected] or call 212 416 4552.
Like us on Facebook at and follow us from our main Twitter account at