1960 Ballad, Covered by The Guess Who, Launched a 15-Year-Old Singer’s Career

Kathy Young wasn’t waiting for the stars to align. Just shy of 15 and still in ninth grade, she approached Indigo Records’ Jim Lee after a taping of Wink Martindale’s local television dance show in Los Angeles and introduced herself.

A week later, she was auditioning.

“Frankie Avalon was the star that day,” Young said in an interview via Classic Bands. “I saw this gentleman walking around, talking to all the artists, but he wasn’t actually with someone. … I walked straight up to him and said, ‘How do you make a record if you don’t know anyone and you don’t have any connections?’”

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That man was Lee, and that fateful chat in August 1960 set off a chain of events that led directly to Young recording and releasing “A Thousand Stars” weeks later.

A quintessential doo-wop ballad, the song featured Young’s soft and airy vocals backed by the polished sounds of The Innocents. By December, the track had climbed the Billboard Hot 100 all the way to the No. 3 spot, solidifying the 15-year-old as a bona fide star of her own and earning her the moniker the “Cinderella of Show Business.”

“Because I went from being a 14-year-old girl in the ninth grade in high school to overnight being a star on American Bandstand, I was Cinderella,” she said. “I went from one thing to another in a matter of weeks.”

Young traveled with Roy Orbison, The Everly Brothers, The Shirelles, Bo Diddley, Connie Francis, and so many more. Appearing on American Bandstand four times, she also received a Gold Record for “A Thousand Stars.”

Related: 1960 Ballad, MGM’s Arnold Maxim Called a Career Killer, Took a 22-Year-Old Singer to No. 1

But Young wasn’t the only artist to find something special in “A Thousand Stars.” The song had already traveled a long way before it found its way into the hands of a teenager in Los Angeles, and its journey was far from over.  

The track was first recorded by The Rivileers, a pioneering doo-wop group from New York, led by 18-year-old Eugene Pearson, who hoped his newly penned “A Thousand Stars” would be their big break. After recording a demo, Sol Rabinowitz, the future owner of Baton Records, heard it and believed in it so much that he invested his own money to get it recorded.

Released as a single in early 1954, the track was a gritty R&B street-corner ballad featuring Pearson’s soulful tenor, a heavy bassline, and professional jazz backing.

Though limited distribution kept The Rivileers’ original from becoming a national hit, “A Thousand Stars” became a regional success and major radio staple in major music hubs like Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. Not to mention, caught the ear of Lee and Young six years later, whose cover was immensely successful.

More than a decade later, “A Thousand Stars” found an entirely different audience.

Following covers from several musicians, from Billy Fury and Linda Scott to Arthur Alexander and The Daughters of Eve, who all saw success with their own versions of the romantic ballad, The Guess Who delivered their own take on the ballad.

Known for chart-topping hits “American Woman,” “These Eyes,” and “No Time,” The Guess Who gave the song a decidedly rock ’n’ roll afterlife when they worked it into a live medley at a show at the Mobile Municipal Auditorium in August 1971. After rocking through “American Woman,” they transitioned into a loose cover of “A Thousand Stars,” before wrapping up with “Come On” and again “American Woman.”

One of the most famous homages, the live rendition has since become a legendary piece of classic rock history. And it all began with a ninth-grader who had the nerve to chase a dream.

Related: 1966 Love Song, Made Famous by Judy Collins, Launched a Future Rock Legend’s Career