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• Sarah Vaughan was a legendary jazz singer, awarded both the Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement and the NEA Jazz Masters Award. Vaughan caught the attention of the public when she won Amateur Night at Harlem's Apollo Theater and was engaged to open for Ella Fitzgerald at the theater in 1943. During her Apollo run, she was introduced to bandleader Earl Hines who gave Vaughan her first professional touring gig.

  In 1945, Vaughan launched a solo career and was recording for Musicraft Records by 1946. She eventually signed with Columbia Records, which produced some of here earliest hits including the tune "Black Coffee." By the mid-50s, she had switched over to Mercury Records, which released her classic takes on "Whatever Lola Wants" and "Misty."

  Vaughan's career continued through the next three decades. Her touring and television schedule never diminished, but by 1989, her health had declined to the point that she had to cancel the final performance of a week-long run at New York City's Blue Note.

  Vaughan died of lung cancer on April 3, 1990.

• Fast Facts

  1. Name: Sarah Lois Vaughan
  2. Born: March 27, 1924
  3. Birthplace: Newark, NJ
  4. Died: April 30, 1990
  5. Nickname: Sassy, The Divine One
  6. Awarded Lifetime Achievement Grammy and the NEA Jazz Masters Award in 1989

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Dizzy Gillespie | Charlie Parker | Miles Davis | Benny Green | Count Basie | Dinah Washington | Ella Fitzgerald | Maynard Ferguson | Billy Eckstine | Earl Hines | Quincy Jones | George Treadwell

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