Ebb, Fred, 1928-2004

Fred Ebb was born in the Bronx on April 8, 1928. He grew up in New York and studied at New York University and Columbia University. By 1951, songs with Ebb lyrics were being published and one of his early efforts was recorded by Judy Garland. Ebb's primary collaborator throughout the 1950s was Paul Klein, though he worked with several composers, including Mary Rodgers and Charles Strouse. With Klein, Ebb wrote many songs, some of which were in the Broadway revue, From A to Z (1960) as well as several shows, including the 1963 off-Broadway production of Morning Sun.

In the early 1960s Ebb's publisher, Tommy Valando introduced him to John Kander, a young composer from Missouri. Kander and Ebb instantly clicked as friends and collaborators and their partnership proved the longest lasting composer/lyricist pairing in Broadway history. With the exceptions of various independent projects, such as incidental motion picture scores Kander wrote and performer's specialty act scripts Ebb wrote, Ebb and Kander were exclusive collaborators from My Coloring Book, their first hit song in 1962, until Ebb's death in 2004.

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