Big Band Singer Dies

By Stephen M. Silverman

11/28/1997 at 12:00 AM EST

Sax player and singer Gordon "Tex" Beneke, 86, who led the famed Glenn Miller Orchestra after the band leader's plane went down during World War II, died at a Southern California rest home on Tuesday. The Ft. Worth-born musician's biggest hits included "Chattanooga Choo Choo" and "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree."