After failing singing auditions for the bands of Benny Goodman, and both Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Shore struck out on her own.

She had a string of eighty charted popular hits, spanning from 1940 to 1957, and after appearing in a handful of feature films, she went on to a four-decade career in American television.

Stylistically, Shore was compared to two singers who followed her in the mid-to-late 1940s and early 1950s, Jo Stafford and Patti Page.

Her mother provided extensive care for her, which included regular therapeutic massage and a strict exercise program.

Fanny loved to sing as a small child; her mother, a contralto with operatic aspirations, encouraged her.

Pursuing her education, Shore enrolled at Vanderbilt University, where she participated in many events and activities, including the Chi chapter of the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority.

[citation needed] Shore decided to return to pursuing her career in singing, moving to New York City to audition for orchestras and radio stations.

In February 1940, she became a featured vocalist on the NBC Radio program The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street, a showcase for traditional Dixieland and blues songs.

In her primetime debut for "the music of the Three Bs, Barrelhouse, Boogie-woogie, and the Blues", she was introduced as "Mademoiselle Dinah 'Diva' Shore, who starts a fire by rubbing two notes together!

In August 1944 she toured the European Theater of Operations hosted by Communications Zone commander Lt. Gen. John C. H. Lee.

At Columbia, Shore enjoyed the greatest commercial success of her recording career, starting with her first Columbia single release, "Shoo-Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy", and peaking with the most popular song of 1948, "Buttons and Bows", (with Henri René & Orchestra), which was number one for ten weeks, and her second million selling record.

Shore remained at RCA Victor until 1958, and during that time, released albums including Bouquet of Blues, Once in a While, and Vivacious, which were collections of singles with different orchestras and conductors such as Frank DeVol and Hugo Winterhalter.

The studio albums Holding Hands at Midnight, from 1955, and Moments Like These, from 1958, recorded in stereo, with orchestra under the musical direction of Harry Zimmerman, who performed the same duties on The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, were the exceptions.

Although she recorded only one minor hit for her new label ("I Ain't Down Yet", which peaked at 102 on Billboard's pop chart in 1960), the collaboration produced four "theme albums" that paired her with arranger Nelson Riddle (Dinah, Yes Indeed!

She recorded Lower Basin Street Revisited for friend Frank Sinatra's Reprise label in 1965, Songs for Sometime Losers (Project 3, 1967), Country Feelin' (Decca, 1969), Once Upon A Summertime (Stanyan, 1975), and Dinah!, a double LP for Capitol in 1976.

She recorded this album at the height of her talk show fame, and it featured her take on contemporary hits such as "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover", "The Hungry Years", and "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)".

[15] She made hundreds of guest appearances in shows including an episode of Suspense ("Frankie and Johnny", May 5, 1952).

Broadcast live and in NBC's famous "Living Color", this variety show was one of the most popular of the 1950s and early 1960s and featured the television debuts of stars of the era, such as Yves Montand and Maureen O'Hara, and featured Shore in performances alongside Ella Fitzgerald, Mahalia Jackson, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, and Pearl Bailey.

She always ended her televised programs by throwing an enthusiastic kiss directly to the cameras (and viewers) and exclaiming "MWAH!"

Although Dinah's Place featured famous guest stars, Shore often grilled lesser-known lifestyle experts on nutrition, exercise, or homemaking.

She returned that fall with Dinah!, a syndicated 90-minute daily talk show (also seen in a 60-minute version on some stations) that put the focus on top guest stars and entertainment.

Unexpected rock music performance appearances included Tina Turner, David Bowie, and Iggy Pop.

Comedian Andy Kaufman in his Tony Clifton guise appeared on her show but did not, as rumored, throw eggs at Shore or pour them on her head.

[19] Shore, with her Dixie drawl and demure manner, was identified with the South, and guests on her shows often commented on it.

In the summer of 1976, Shore hosted Dinah and Her New Best Friends, an eight-week summer replacement series for The Carol Burnett Show which featured a cast of young hopefuls such as Diana Canova and Gary Mule Deer, along with such seasoned guests as Jean Stapleton and Linda Lavin.

Her last television special, Dinah Comes Home (TNN 1991), brought Shore's career full-circle, taking her back to the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, which she first visited some sixty years earlier.

The Best of The Dinah Shore Show 1956–1963, an hour-long special of early color videotaped footage of Shore in duets with guests Ella Fitzgerald, Jack Lemmon, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Pearl Bailey, George Burns, Groucho Marx, Peggy Lee, and Mahalia Jackson.

Mission Hills’ Dinah Shore Course is currently host of the Galleri Classic, a 78-man, 54-hole no-cut tournament on the PGA Tour Champions for players over 50.

[26] In acknowledgment of her contributions to golf, Shore was elected an honorary member of the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1994.

She received the 1993 Old Tom Morris Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, GCSAA's highest honor.