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From the middle of the 20th century to today, women have ruled the world of jazz. From Ella Fitzgerald, the first African-American woman of song, to Norah Jones, a contemporary star, jazz has kept listeners glued to the radio for decades. Here are some of the greatest female jazz singers and musicians in history.
Ella is the “First Lady of Song.” After being found in an amateur contest, Ella went on to become one of the most well-known female jazz singers of all time. She made history in 1958 when she was the first African-American woman to win a Grammy. She would go on to win 12 more Grammys.
READ MORE: Ella Fitzgerald: The First African-American Woman of Song
Born Eleanora Fagan Gough, Billie Holiday is one of the most legendary singers in jazz history. As a teenager, Gough got her start as an active participant on the early Harlem jazz scene. When she made her singing debut she changed her name to Billie Holiday and the rest is history. With her signature white gardenias and her soulful croon, Billie is still one of the most well-known faces of jazz.
Nicknamed the “High Priestess of Soul,” Nina Simone is known for the honest emotion behind her music and her engaging live performances. While she could be defined as jazz, Simone never neatly fit into any musical category. In her 1991 autobiography “I Put Spell on you” she wrote, “Critics started to talk about what sort of music I was playing. And tried to find a neat slot to file it away in. Saying what sort of music I played gave the critics problems because there was something from everything in there, but it also meant I was appreciated across the board – by jazz, folk, pop and blues fans as well as admirers of classical music.”
Before her death in 2002, Peggy Lee had a career that spanned six decades. She won three Grammy awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award. She started singing as Peggy Lee at 14 but made her first big break as the singer on the nationwide broadcast for CBS radio. She erupted as a mainstream star when her song “Somebody Else is Taking My Place” was released in 1942.
Canadian Jazz musician Diana Krall made her breakthrough in 1996 with her album “All For You,” a Nat King Cole tribute album. Before that she got her start performing in cafes and studying at Berklee College of Music. She has a very traditional jazz style, which immediately attracted listeners. Her 1999 album “When I Look in Your Eyes” was an international hit, earning her a Grammy for best jazz vocal performance.
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Blurring the lines of jazz, blues and pop, Washington was the most popular black female recording artist of the ’50s. Like many other jazz artists, she got her start singing gospel in church. At 15 she won a talent contest at the Regal Theater and began performing both in clubs and at church. Born Ruth Lee Jones, she became Dinah Washington when she began gaining exposure working as the singer for Lionel Hampton’s band. In 1946, Washington left Hampton’s band and went into solo recording. Her successful career abruptly ended when she passed away in 1963.
With a voice ranked alongside jazz legends Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan was known for her expressive voice with perfectly controlled vibrato. She got her professional start in music after winning an amateur context at the Apollo Theater. After her win she was hired as a singer and second vocalist for Earl Hines’ band. Later she joined friend Billy Eckstein in his own orchestra, making her official on record debut. After this she spent the majority of her career singing solo.
Norah Jones, the daughter of famous Indian musician Ravi Shankar, is a modern jazz phenomenon. She was signed to Blue Note Records in 2001 and the next year her debut album “Come Away With Me” won five Grammys. Her follow-up projects include the film “My Blueberry Nights” and five other albums. Her most recent project was released as part of the country trio Puss N Boots, titled “No Fools, No Fun” in 2014.
Known for her highly rhythmic singing and distinct phrasing, Anita O’Day played the line between big band, bepop and jazz. Her first gig was at Chicago’s Planet Mars. In the early 1940s, she was recruited to sing for drummer Gene Krupa’s band. Later, she released a song “Let Me Off Uptown” with trumpeter Roy Eldridge called “Let Me Off Uptown.” Between the years of 1957 and 1963 she put out a total of 16 albums.
While she never had a huge hit or received a Grammy, Carmen McRae is still a legendary voice in jazz history. Her emotional singing voice moved audiences. She got her start in the late ’30s early ’40s when she became a fixture at Harlem jazz clubs.
To learn about some of the best voices in modern blues, visit the article “5 Modern Blues Voices You Need To Hear.”
