His mother, Dolly Kirk (died October 1925) gave him up for adoption in 1908 and he was raised by Reverend Washington Johnson and his wife, Nancy, at 442 North Kent Street in Winchester.

Based on known affiliations (Yvonne, Powell Gibson, Mary Moten and former schoolmate, Anna Bertha), Kirby's biological father lived in Baltimore and was a frequent visitor to the Winchester area.

[5] In 1928, Kirby arrived in Baltimore, where he met trombonist Jimmy Harrison, saxophonist Coleman Hawkins and composer Duke Ellington.

Shortly after his arrival in New York, Kirby played tuba with Bill Brown and His Brownies at the Star Ballroom on Forty-Second Street.

[7] Kirby's sextet was soon known as the Onyx Club Boys, and took the shape it would basically hold until World War II, usually with Charlie Shavers (trumpet), Buster Bailey (clarinet), Russell Procope (alto saxophone), Billy Kyle (piano), O'Neil Spencer (drums).

He was prolific and popular from 1938 to 1941, but World War II took away Kyle and Procope; bad health claimed Spencer, who died from tuberculosis in 1944.

Nevertheless, Kirby kept trying to lead a group in clubs and in the studio, occasionally managing to attract such talents as Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Carter, Ben Webster, Clyde Hart, Budd Johnson, and Zutty Singleton.

A concert at Carnegie Hall in December 1950, with Bailey plus drummer Sid Catlett, attracted only a small audience, which "crushed Kirby's spirit and badly damaged what little was left of his career.

In 2010 a historical marker was placed in front of Kirby's childhood home located at 442 North Kent Street in Winchester, Va.

[11] Clarinetist Don Byron paid tribute to Kirby (along with Duke Ellington and Raymond Scott) on his 1996 album Bug Music.