source http://www.ussoklahoma.com/Andrews.html

LaVern, Maxine and Patty Andrews were all born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  The girls sang when they were in their teens and were influenced by the Boswell Sisters to go big.  The Andrews Sisters were very popular in the 30s and 40s.  Their style was ballads, Boogie Woogie and other novelty sounds.  The Andrews Sisters were the Queens of  the radio juke box from 1937 to the 1940s.
 

Maxine was the assertive one of the bunch, Patty was the fun loving one and LaVern was the serious one who always wanted to get everything done on time.   They're big break was in 1938 with "Bei Mir Bist du Schoen", a Yiddish tune.  During the time of  WW2, the sisters sang to the troops.  They were more than just a music group.  They were hope during the time of the war.

The sisters recorded more than 1800 songs and sold over 90 million records.  In 1954, 2 of the sisters decided to leave the group and go solo.  However, in 1956 they reunited and got back together again.  But, in 1966, 10 years later, LaVern had to retire due to poor health.  She then died 1 year later of  cancer.  Maxine died in 1995 and to my knowledge, Patty is still alive.
 
 

My Sources
Information
http://www.singers.com/jazz/vintage/andrews.html
http://holly.colostate.edu/~carleen/andrews/io/index.html
http://www.cmgww.com/music/andrews/biog.hyml