Jerome Kern was born in New York City in 1885 and died there in 1945, aged 60. He was one of the most prominent American theatre composers of the 20th century. Like so many of his peers, Kern started his career as a song-plugger for Tin Pan Alley. His first stage successes were in London, writing songs for West End productions. Whilst living in England he met and married his wife. By the 1920s Kern was an established Broadway composer and, although the vast majority of his musicals are now largely forgotten, many of the songs from them remain as popular as ever. Perhaps his greatest contribution to the American musical was Showboat. This one show has assured him a place in the history of the Musical.