Quite a few of the great popular hits owe their existence to true-life experiences--some happy, some not. Ruth Lowe, the pianist in Ana Ray Hutton's all-girl band, lost her husband while in Chicago in 1939. They had been married only a short time before. Grief-stricken, she returned to her native Toronto where, as a tribute to him and to the happiness they had shared, she wrote this, her first song. Percy Faith, who had a radio orchestra in Canada, introduced it later that year. In 1940, a young Frank Sinatra joined Tommy Dorsey's orchestra right after making his big-band debut with Harry James' new band about a year earlier. Within a few months, he had made his mark in the pop music world with his performance of "I'll Never Smile Again," and the record made an indelible impression on everyone who heard it. Though it was composer Lowe's only hit, it was, thanks to Sinatra and Dorsey, a resounding one.
