Charles K. Harris

During his long career, he advanced the relatively new genre, publishing more than 300 songs, often deemed by admirers as the "king of the tear jerkers".

In 1892,[2] Harris wrote "After the Ball", a song about an old man recounting the story of his long-lost love to his niece.

He caught the attention of John Philip Sousa, who played the tune at the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago, boosting sheet music sales to in excess of five million copies in the 1890s.

[3] His next hit "Break the News to Mother", about a dying soldier, coincided with the Spanish–American War in 1897 and furthered his popularity.

[5] Harris's sentimental songs were introduced on stages and music halls, but they found ready acceptance among folkloric string bands of the South.