JAZZ GIANT

Grammy-Winning Singer Dies at 70

The smoky-voiced jazz star was given one of the genre’s highest accolades.

Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Cassandra Wilson has died at 70. The acclaimed songwriter, known for her deep, smoky voice, is regarded as one of the genre’s most influential modern vocalists. She died on Tuesday morning; no cause of death was provided. Her representatives said in a statement to jazz radio station WBGO: “Cassandra Wilson transitioned peacefully at home, surrounded by family, close friends, and her manager.” Wilson was born in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1955, and started playing piano as a child and later learned guitar. She moved to New York in the early 1980s and became part of the city’s jazz scene. Over her career, Wilson shared the stage with legends such as Miles Davis and Wynton Marsalis. She also wrote the acclaimed albums Blue Light ’Til Dawn (1993) and New Moon Daughter (1995). The latter became a major commercial success, earning Wilson a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance and selling more than 400,000 copies. Wilson won two Grammy Awards and received many other honors. In 2022, she was named an NEA Jazz Master, one of the highest honors in American jazz. “Cassandra Wilson carried the sound, spirit, and history of Mississippi with her wherever her music reached,” Jackson Mayor John Horhn said.