Trombonist and bandleader, born in Clarinda, Iowa, USA. He studied at Colorado, joined the Ben Pollack Band before completing his studies, then moved to New York City in 1928, where he worked as a freelance musician and arranger. From 1937 he led a succession of popular dance orchestras, and joined the US Army Air Force in 1942, forming the US Air Force band to entertain the troops. He achieved a distinctive sound with a saxophone–clarinet combination, his many successes including ‘Moonlight Serenade’ (his theme song), ‘Little Brown Jug’, and ‘In the Mood’ (1939). While the band was stationed in Europe, he was a passenger in a small aircraft lost without trace over the English Channel. Several theories have been proposed for the disappearance, such as bad weather, but records have suggested that his aircraft may have been hit by bombs jettisoned over the Channel by Allied bombers returning from a mission aborted through bad weather. The big band sound he created has continued to be performed with great popularity since his death, and the film The Glenn Miller Story (1953) has kept his memory alive.