Hughie Cannon

Hugo Cannon (April 9, 1877 – June 17, 1912) was an American songwriter and pianist whose best-known composition was the popular ragtime song "(Won't You Come Home) Bill Bailey".

He began performing with Barlow's Minstrels in the 1890s, as a singer, dancer, and piano player, often working with actor John Queen and having several songs published.

[2] He occasionally worked as a bar pianist in Jackson, Michigan, where he met local musician Willard "Bill" Bailey.

[3] The tune is similar to an earlier song, "Ain't Dat a Shame" credited to Queen and Walter Wilson.

[2] After publication the song quickly became a hit and then a standard, has been covered many times since by a wide range of singers, including Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Pearl Bailey, Marion Montgomery, Aretha Franklin, and Bobby Darin.

Cannon's other songs include "For Lawdy Sakes, Feed My Dog", "I Hates To Get Up Early In The Morning", "Possum Pie", "Just Because She Made Dem Goo-Goo Eyes"[4] and "You Needn't Come Home."

His mother, May Brown Cannon Smith Robbins, had been in show business and had played the role of "Little Trixie" in a production that toured the nation for several years in the late 1800s.