Joe Sullivan

Michael Joseph O'Sullivan (November 4, 1906 – October 13, 1971) was an American jazz pianist.

Sullivan was the ninth child of Irish immigrant parents. He studied classical piano for 12 years and at age 17, he began to play popular music in silent-movie theaters, on radio stations, and then with the dance orchestras, where he was exposed to jazz. He graduated from the Chicago Conservatory and was an important contributor to the Chicago jazz scene of the 1920s. In 1932 he was a member of recording group the Rhythmakers. In 1933, he joined Bing Crosby as his accompanist, recording and making many radio broadcasts.

By the 1950s, Sullivan was largely forgotten, playing solo in San Francisco. Marital difficulties and excessive drinking caused Sullivan to become increasingly unreliable and unable to keep a steady job, either as band member or soloist.

The British poet (and jazz pianist) Roy Fisher celebrated Sullivan's playing with a poem, "The Thing About Joe Sullivan".

Joe Sullivan died in San Francisco in October 1971, at the age of 64.