Was born Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of Harry Connick, Sr., who was the district attorney of New Orleans from 1977-2003, and Anita, a judge, lawyer, and former Louisiana Supreme Court justice. His parents also owned a record store. Connick, Jr's mother, a native of New York City, is Jewish, and his father is of Irish Catholic background. Connick, Jr. has a sister, Suzanna. He was raised in the Lakeview neighborhood of New Orleans. Connick's musical talents soon came to the fore when he learned the keyboards at the age of three, played publicly at age six and recorded with a local jazz band at ten. At age nine he performed the Piano Concerto No. 3 Opus 37 of Beethoven with the then New Orleans Symphony Orchestra (now the Louisiana Philharmonic). His musical talents were developed at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and under the tutelage of Ellis Marsalis and James Booker.
Connick attended Jesuit High School and Isidore Newman School in New Orleans. After an unsuccessful attempt to study jazz academically, and having given recitals in the classical and jazz piano programs at Loyola University, Connick moved to New York City to study at Hunter College and the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, where a Columbia Records executive persuaded him to sign with that label. His first record for the label, Harry Connick Jr., was a mainly instrumental album of standards. He soon acquired a reputation in jazz because of extended stays at high-profile New York venues. His next album, 20, featured his vocals and added to this reputation.
Personal life
On April 16, 1994, Connick, Jr. married model Jill Goodacre, originally from Texas, at the St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans, Louisiana. They have three daughters: Georgia Tatom (born April 17, 1996), Sarah Kate (September 12, 1997), and Charlotte (born June 26, 2002). The family currently resides in New Canaan, Connecticut.
He is a founder of the Krewe of Orpheus, a music-based New Orleans krewe, taking its name from Orpheus of classical mythology. The Krewe of Orpheus parades on St. Charles Avenue and Canal Street in New Orleans on Lundi Gras (Fat Monday) — the day before Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday).
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