Grammy-Winning Jazz Singer, Cassandra Wilson D!es At 70
Grammy-Winning Jazz Singer, Cassandra Wilson Dies At 70
“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Cassandra Wilson, the Grammy Award-winning and legendary jazz artist,” Torre said.
Cassandra Wilson, the two-time Grammy Award-winning jazz singer, songwriter and producer, has died at the age of 70 in Jackson, Mississippi, United States.
Wilson’s manager, Robert Torre, announced her death in a statement to WBGO, a jazz radio station, saying the singer died peacefully at home surrounded by family, close friends and her manager.
“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Cassandra Wilson, the Grammy Award-winning and legendary jazz artist,” Torre said.
Wilson was known for her deep contralto voice and her ability to combine jazz with blues, folk, pop, R&B and country. Her musical style helped her build an international audience while maintaining strong links to the jazz tradition.
She won her first Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 1997 for New Moon Daughter. She won the same category again in 2009 for Loverly, giving her two Grammy Awards during her career.
Wilson began her musical training as a child in Jackson, taking piano lessons at the age of six before later learning the clarinet.
She moved to New York in the 1980s and became involved with Steve Coleman’s M-Base Collective before establishing herself as a solo recording artist.
Her 1993 album, Blue Light ’Til Dawn, marked a major stage in her career and showcased her approach to combining jazz with other American musical traditions. She went on to collaborate with several major musicians, including Wynton Marsalis, Miles Davis and members of The Roots.
In 2015, Wilson released Coming Forth by Day, an album dedicated to Billie Holiday. The project was part of celebrations marking the centenary of Holiday’s birth.
Wilson was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master in 2022, recognising her contribution to American jazz. Time magazine had also named her “America’s best singer” in 2001.
Her career spanned more than three decades and included Grammy-winning recordings, major collaborations and performances that established her as one of the leading jazz vocalists of her generation.
She leaves behind a body of work that continued to connect jazz with blues, folk, country and other American musical traditions.
