Shirley Ellis
Shirley Marie O'Garra, known as Shirley Ellis (also Shirley Elliston after marriage), was an American soul singer and songwriter born January 19, 1929, in the Bronx, New York, and died October 5, 2005, in the Bronx. Of West Indian heritage, she rose to fame in the early 1960s with playful novelty songs that became hits: The Nitty Gritty (1963, US No. 8), The Name Game (1964, US No. 3), and The Clapping Song (1965, US No. 8, UK No. 6). The Clapping Song sold over a million copies and earned a gold disc.
She was the daughter of William H. O'Garra, from Montserrat, and Petra Smith, from the Bahamas. In 1949 she married Arnold Alphonso Elliston. By 1954 she had written songs recorded by the Chords, and she started in the group the Metronomes, later marrying their lead singer. Her solo hits were written with her manager and partner Lincoln Chase. Ellis recorded for Congress (a Kapp label subsidiary), then Columbia and Bell, and retired from music in 1968.
Her songs have continued to appear in films and commercials, and many artists have covered her work. The Clapping Song was featured in Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), and her music has appeared in other media since then.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 07:16 (CET).