From his Wikipedia page:

He was born on June 26, 1900 in Trenton, New Jersey. Following several concert seasons as an oratorio and song recital specialist, including the American premier of Mahler‘s Das Lied von der Erde, he traveled to Germany where he made hisoperatic debut in Hamburg as Cavaradossi in Puccini‘s Tosca in 1927. After his tour in other European cities such asBerlin, Crooks returned to the United States and made his American debut in 1930 in Philadelphia. He became a star of the Metropolitan Opera, specializing in French and Italian operas. He participated in the farewell gala on March 29, 1936, for Italian soprano Lucrezia Bori, which was broadcast nationally and preserved on transcription discs.
From 1928 to 1945, Crooks was the host of “The Voice of Firestone” radio broadcasts, in which he sang operatic arias, patriotic songs, folk songs, and popular hits such as “People Will Say We’re in Love” from Rodgers and Hammerstein‘s Oklahoma! in 1943. He also appeared on radio broadcasts with Bing Crosby, who remained a friend until Crooks’s death.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Crooks

The following interactive timeline was created by Jenna Kirby and is used with permission.