The King Sisters
The King Sisters were a Big Band-era vocal group comprised of sisters from the Driggs family—members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Each of the six sisters sang with the group at one time, but the group generally consisted of four singers.
William King Driggs was a professor of music and a voice teacher in Utah and Colorado. He taught his six daughters and two sons to sing and play instruments. As the economic limitations of the Depression weighed upon the large family, he supplemented the family income by performing with his family as The Driggs Family of Entertainers. They traveled throughout the West on the weekends and during the summers and performed in theatres, clubs, schools, and churches. The family eventually relocated to Oakland, California.
In Oakland, the three elder daughters—Maxine, Luise, and Alyce—began performing as a trio. They debuted on an Oakland radio station. When the family moved to Salt Lake City in 1932, the trio became regulars on KSL. While singing for KSL, the group changed their name to the King Sisters at the request of the station manager. In 1934, bandleader Horace Heidt heard one of their broadcasts and convinced their parents to let them go to San Francisco for a two-week engagement at the Golden Gate Theater. Their four to five shows a day, seven days a week performance schedule became exhausting and the two weeks turned into five years. They later toured with Artie Shaw and then Alvino Rey, whom Luise had married, and his orchestra. An opportunity came to join the Glenn Miller Orchestra, but they stayed with Rey until the outbreak of World War II dissolved the orchestra.
After Maxine retired, sisters Donna and Yvonne joined the group, making it a quartet. They recorded many hit records for RCA. Thirteen of their recordings placed in the top 30 between 1941 and 1945. The group also appeared in Hollywood films such as Cuban Pete, Meet the People, and Thrill of Romance. When Donna retired, Marilyn joined the group. In 1953, NBC offered the King Sisters and Alvino Rey their own television show, which was successful and brought them to the attention of Capitol Records and led them to a Grammy nomination. They also appeared on several variety shows, such as The Steve Allen Show.
During the 1960s, the sisters put on benefit shows at Brigham Young University and their families joined them on stage. Yvonne sent a tape of one of the shows to ABC, which led to the creation of The King Family Show in 1965. The King Family enjoyed success on television until their show was cancelled in 1969, but they continued to perform in television specials and in concerts throughout the 1970s.
Alyce King Clarke died on August 23, 1996; Luise King Rey died on August 4, 1997; Donna King Conkling died on June 16, 2997; Maxine King Thomas died on May 13, 2009; Yvonne King Burch died on December 13, 2009; and Marilyn King died on August 7, 2013.
