The Bell Sisters

The Bell Sisters (Cynthia Strother, 16, and Kay Strother, 11) were discovered on October 31, 1951, singing "Bermuda" on a Los Angeles television program called "Peter Potter's Search for a Song." The song, which Cynthia wrote, was picked up that night by Goday Music.

Within a week, the young duo cut a demo of the song in Hollywood for Henri Rene,the West Coast A & R man for RCA Records. Mr. Rene liked the girls' vocal harmonies so much, he decided they should record the song for RCA.

By March of 1952, "Bermuda" had reached #8 on the Billboard charts and eventually sold over 1,000,000 copies.

Cynthia and Kay, adopting their mother's maiden name of Bell for their act, enjoyed a rollercoaster ride of success, eventually releasing eleven records (22 songs) for RCA. They appeared on many popular radio and television shows, including the Frank Sinatra Show, the Perry Como Show and the Dinah Shore Show.

They worked with all the greats: Kay Starr, Rosemary Clooney, Lucille Ball, Tony Curtis, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Mel Torme. They even toured Korea (in 1953 and 1954) with other Hollywood performers and the USO.

After their peak in 1952-1953, the Bell Sisters continued to perform around the United States at state fairs and charity telethons for several years. But Cynthia and Kay eventually settled down to raise families - Cynthia went on to teach swimming to handicapped children and Kay became an elementary school teacher.