2017 Music Obituaries

[waltky]

Granny remembers when he used to be on American Bandstand before he went posh...

Georges Pretre, conductor in NY, Vienna, Milan, dies at 92
January 5, 2017 — Georges Pretre, who conducted renowned orchestras from Vienna to Milan and New York and beyond and was instrumental in Maria Callas' singing career, has died. He was 92.

Still conducting until the final months of his life, "the Maestro Georges Pretre" died at his home in southern France on Wednesday, according to a statement from Milan's La Scala hailing his 50-year relationship with the theater. Pretre last conducted in October at a performance of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra at the Musikverein, where his rendition of Ravel's Bolero earned a standing ovation. The symphony posted a video of him waving his wand vigorously before blowing kisses to the crowd and smiling broadly.

French Maestro Georges Pretre conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra accept applause from the audience during the traditional New Year's concert at Vienna, Austria. Pretre, who conducted renowned symphonies from Vienna to Milan's La Scala and New York's Metropolitan Opera and was instrumental in Maria Callas' opera career, has died. He was 92.​

Born in France on Aug. 24, 1924, Pretre studied at the Paris Conservatory and was Callas' first conductor at the Paris Opera. He went on to conduct in New York's Metropolitan Opera, in Chicago, London and Tokyo. His musical dedication didn't fade as he entered his 10th decade — he last conducted at La Scala in February, in Paris in 2013 and at the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra's 2010 new year concert.

France's culture minister praised Pretre as a "remarkable ambassador" appreciated around the world for his "art of letting musicians play." Austria's culture minister, Thomas Drozda, said that Pretre "was a master of musical intellectuality and also someone who understood to generate emotion through music." He continued, "At home in all the world's musical metropolises, he stood for a particular musical language in which European traditions were combined."

Georges Pretre, conductor in NY, Vienna, Milan, dies at 92

 

[waltky]

British singer/songwriter Peter Sarstedt dies aged 75...

Singer-songwriter Peter Sarstedt dies aged 75
Sun, 08 Jan 2017 - Peter Sarstedt, best known for his number one hit Where do you go to (my lovely), dies aged 75.

The song topped the UK singles charts in February 1969 and remained number one for four weeks. It was also number one in many other countries and won the Ivor Novello award for best song composition. He died peacefully after a six-year battle with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, a family statement said. The statement said his closest family were "with him to the last" and that many people would miss his songs and his music.

Where do you go to (my lovely), a song about a girl born in poverty who becomes a member of the European jet-set, was replaced as number one by Marvin Gaye's I Heard it Through the Grapevine. It was included in the compilation programme One-Hit Wonders at the BBC, which was broadcast on BBC Four last year, although Sarstedt also reached number 10 in the charts with Frozen Orange Juice in June 1969. He wrote more than a dozen albums in a career that spanned more than 50 years, releasing his last, Restless Heart, in 2013

Born into a musical family in India, Sarstedt was one of three brothers who all enjoyed success in the UK singles chart. His older sibling, Richard Sarstedt, who performed under the stage name Eden Kane, also topped the charts with Well I ask You in 1961, while younger brother Clive, performing under the name Robin Sarstedt, reached number three in 1976 with My Resistance is Low.

Sarstedt's music reached new audiences when Where do you go to (my lovely) was included in the Wes Anderson films Hotel Chevalier and The Darjeeling Limited, which were both released in 2007. According to his website, he retired in 2010 because of his illness - a rare, progressive neurological condition.

Singer-songwriter Peter Sarstedt dies aged 75 - BBC News

 

[waltky]

Nat Hentoff passes at 91...

Columnist Nat Hentoff dies at 91
January 7, 2017 — Nat Hentoff, an eclectic columnist, critic, novelist and agitator dedicated to music, free expression and defying the party line, died Saturday at age 91.

His son, Tom Hentoff, said his father died from natural causes at his Manhattan apartment. Schooled in the classics and the stories he heard from Duke Ellington and other jazz greats, Nat Hentoff enjoyed a diverse and iconoclastic career, basking in "the freedom to be infuriating on a myriad of subjects." He was a bearded, scholarly figure, a kind of secular rabbi, as likely to write a column about fiddler Bob Wills as a dissection of the Patriot Act, to have his name appear in the liberal Village Voice as the far-right WorldNetDaily.com, where his column last appeared in August 2016.

Ellington, Charlie Parker, Malcolm X and I.F. Stone were among his friends and acquaintances. He wrote liner notes for records by Aretha Franklin, Max Roach and Ray Charles and was the first non-musician named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment of the Arts. He also received honors from the American Bar Association, the National Press Foundation, and, because of his opposition to abortion, the Human Life Foundation. Hentoff's steadiest job was with the Voice, where he worked for 50 years and wrote a popular column. He wrote for years about jazz for DownBeat and had a music column for the Wall Street Journal. His more than 25 books included works on jazz and the First Amendment, the novels "Call the Keeper" and "Blues for Charles Darwin" and the memoirs "Boston Boy" and "Speaking Freely."

The documentary "The Pleasures of Being Out of Step: Notes on the Life of Nat Hentoff" was released in 2014. Jazz was his first love, but Hentoff was an early admirer of Bob Dylan, first hearing the then-unknown singer at a Greenwich Village club in 1961 and getting on well enough with him to write liner notes two years later for Dylan's landmark second album, "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan." "The irrepressible reality of Bob Dylan is a compound of spontaneity, candor, slicing wit and an uncommonly perceptive eye and ear for the way many of us constrict our capacity for living while a few of us don't," Hentoff wrote.

At a time when the media alternately treated Dylan like a prophet or the latest teen fad, Hentoff asked well-informed questions that were (usually) answered in kind by the cryptic star. Hentoff also was willing to be Dylan's partner in improvisation. A 1966 Playboy interview, he later revealed, had been made up from scratch after Dylan rejected the first conversation that was supposed to be published by the magazine. As a columnist, Hentoff focused tirelessly on the Constitution and what he saw as a bipartisan mission to undermine it. He tallied the crimes of Richard Nixon and labeled President Clinton's anti-terrorism legislation "an all-out assault on the Bill of Rights." He even parted from other First Amendment advocates, quitting the American Civil Liberties Union because of the ACLU's support for speech codes in schools and workplaces.

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[waltky]

Death catches up with Tommy Allsup...

Guitarist Who Avoided Buddy Holly Plane Crash Dies at 85
January 12, 2017 — Tommy Allsup, a guitarist best known for losing a coin toss that kept him off a plane that later crashed and killed rock 'n' roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson, has died. He was 85.

Singer and musician Austin Allsup says his father died Wednesday at a Springfield, Missouri, hospital from complications from a hernia operation. Tommy Allsup was part of Holly's band when the Lubbock, Texas, singer died in the 1959 plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa. Allsup flipped a coin to see if he or Valens would get a seat on the plane.

Austin Allsup said Thursday his father took losing the coin toss as a blessing and "knew that he was very lucky to be here." Funeral services are expected to be held next week. Tommy Allsup will be buried in Oklahoma, near his hometown of Owasso.

Today Austin's father and legendary guitar player Tommy Allsup passed away. Please #Pray for Austin and his family. pic.twitter.com/NxeSSYZsMt
— Austin Allsup (@AustinAllsup) January 11, 2017

Guitarist Who Avoided Buddy Holly Plane Crash Dies at 85

 

[waltky]

Al Jarreau passes on...

Jazz Legend Al Jarreau Dead at 76 Following Hospitalization for Exhaustion
February 12, 2017 | Al Jarreau, a seven-time Grammy Award-winning singer, died Sunday at a Los Angeles hospital. He was 76.

According to a statement from his manager Joe Gordon published by Ebony magazine, the singer was surrounded by family and friends at the time of his passing. His loved ones asked that in lieu of flowers or gifts, donations be made the Wisconsin Foundation for School Music, an organization that supports music opportunities, teachers, and scholarships for students in Milwaukee and throughout Wisconsin.

Last week, updates on Jarreau’s Twitter account announced he had entered a hospital for exhaustion and was forced to retire from touring “with complete sorrow.” “The medical team has instructed that he cannot perform any of his remianing 2017 concert dates,” his team said in the statement. They continued, “He is thankful for his 50 years of traveling the world in ministry through music, and for everyone who shared this with him – his faithful audience, the dedicated musicians, and so many others who supported his effort.”

=snip=

Musician Steve Lukather of Toto and Ringo’s All-Starr Band shared his condolences as well. “It was an honor working with him and there was no one like him!” he tweeted. “Unreal..”

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[waltky]

Joni Sledge of 70's disco group Sister Sledge passes away...

Joni Sledge of ‘We Are Family’ group dies at 60
Mon, Mar 13, 2017 - Joni Sledge, one of four sisters who, as the group Sister Sledge, sang one of disco’s most enduring songs with We Are Family, has died, a representative said on Saturday.

The singer died aged 60 at her home in Arizona on Friday with the cause of death yet to be determined, publicist Biff Warren said. “We miss her and hurt for her presence, her radiance and the sincerity with which she loved and embraced life,” a family statement said. Daughters of two performers, Joni and her three sisters — Debbie, Kathy and Kim — grew up in Philadelphia and enjoyed moderate success touring in the 1970s with rhythm and blues songs.

However, the sisters found a major hit in 1979 with We Are Family, which was written by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, who had emerged as key figures in the disco craze with their band Chic. In an interview last year with the Guardian, Joni Sledge said the sisters had become professionally frustrated by the time they made We Are Family and had considered other careers, such as studying law.

‘ONE-TAKE PARTY’

“Recording the track We Are Family was like a one-take party — we were just dancing and playing around and hanging out in the studio when we did it,” she said. “We did something pretty amazing together,” Rodgers said on Twitter. Despite the message of family unity, Kathy Sledge left the group to pursue a solo career and tensions ensued, with Joni and Debbie remaining the core members.

Sister Sledge came together in various forms for performances that included the Festival of Families in Philadelphia in 2015 and failed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign. Speaking in 2015 to Women’s Wear Daily, Joni Sledge said that the chorus of the group’s main hit: “We are family / I got all my sisters with me” carried a time-tested message of unity. “It’s just as powerful today. That’s one of the good things about it. It teaches respect,” she said.

Joni Sledge of ‘We Are Family’ group dies at 60 - Taipei Times

 

[basquebromance]

Chuck Berry!

Chuck Berry Dead at 90 | Pitchfork

 

[waltky]

Rock and roll legend Chuck Berry passes away...

Rock and roll legend Chuck Berry dies
Sun, 19 Mar 2017 - Tributes pour in as police confirm the singer died in his home state of Missouri, aged 90.

Rock and roll legend Chuck Berry has died aged 90, police in the US state of Missouri report. The singer was found unresponsive at lunchtime on Saturday, St Charles County police said. Berry's seven-decade career boasted a string of hits, including classics Roll Over Beethoven and Johnny B. Goode. He received a lifetime achievement Grammy in 1984 and was among the first inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

Berry, pictured in 1965, had his first hit in the 1950s​

In a statement on Facebook, the St Charles County Police Department said they were called to reports of an unresponsive man at 12:40 local time (17:40 GMT). "Unfortunately, the 90-year-old man could not be revived and was pronounced deceased at 1:26pm," the statement continued. "The St. Charles County Police Department sadly confirms the death of Charles Edward Anderson Berry Sr., better known as legendary musician Chuck Berry." High-profile musicians were quick to pay tribute to Berry's talent and influence. Motown legends The Jacksons tweeted: "Chuck Berry merged blues & swing into the phenomenon of early rock'n'roll. In music, he cast one of the longest shadows. Thank You Chuck."

Charles "Chuck" Berry was born in St Louis, Missouri on 18 October 1926​

Singer-songwriter Huey Lewis described him as "maybe the most important figure in all of rock and roll". "His music and influence will last forever," he added. Beatles drummer Ringo Starr quoted one of Berry's own lyrics on Twitter, saying: "Just let me hear some of that rock 'n' roll music any old way you use it." "I am playing I'm talking about you," he wrote. Both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones covered Berry's songs, as did The Beach Boys and scores of other acts - including Elvis. "If you tried to give rock 'n' roll another name," John Lennon once said, "you might call it 'Chuck Berry'."

Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones said that Berry "lit up our teenage years and blew life into our dreams". Singer Bruce Springsteen called him "a giant for the ages". The novelist Stephen King noted that Berry had a long life for a consummate rock'n'roller, tweeting: "Chuck Berry died. This breaks my heart, but 90 years old ain't bad for rock and roll. Johnny B. Goode forever." Berry was born in St Louis, Missouri, in 1926, and had his first hit, Maybellene, in 1955. Last year, he announced he would be releasing his first album in nearly four decades. He dedicated it to his wife of 68 years, Themetta "Toddy".

Rock and roll legend Chuck Berry dies - BBC News

 

[waltky]

Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers Band dead at age 69...

Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers Band dead at age 69
Sunday 28th May, 2017 — Music legend Gregg Allman, whose bluesy vocals and soulful touch on the Hammond B-3 organ helped propel the Allman Brothers Band to superstardom and spawn Southern rock, died Saturday, a publicist said. He was 69.

Allman died Saturday at his home in Savannah, Georgia, publicist Ken Weinstein said. Allman had cancelled some 2016 tour dates, announcing on Aug. 5 that he was “under his doctor’s care at the Mayo Clinic” due to “serious health issues.” Later that year, he cancelled more dates citing a throat injury. And in March 2017, he cancelled performances for the rest of the year. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, the rock star known for his long blond hair was raised in Florida by a single mother after his father was shot to death. Allman idolized his older brother, Duane, eventually joining a series of bands with him. Together they formed the nucleus of The Allman Brothers Band.

The original band featured extended jams, tight guitar harmonies by Duane Allman and Dickey Betts, rhythms from a pair of drummers and the smoky blues inflected voice of Gregg Allman. Songs such as “Whipping Post,” “Ramblin’ Man” and “Midnight Rider,” helped define what came to be known as Southern rock and opened the doors for such stars as Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Marshall Tucker Band. In his 2012 memoir, “My Cross to Bear,” Allman described how Duane was a central figure in his life in the years after their father was murdered by a man he met in a bar. The two boys endured a spell in a military school before being swept up in rock music in their teens. Although Gregg was the first to pick up a guitar, it was Duane who excelled at it. So Gregg later switched to the organ.

Gregg Allman performs at the Americana Music Association awards show in Nashville, Tenn. On Saturday, May 27, 2017, a publicist said the musician, the singer for The Allman Brothers Band, has died.​

They failed to crack success until they formed The Allman Brothers Band in 1969. Based in Macon, Georgia, the group featured Betts, drummers Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson and Butch Trucks and bassist Berry Oakley. They partied to excess while defining a sound that still excites millions. Their self-titled debut album came out in 1969, but it was their seminal live album “At Fillmore East” in 1971 that catapulted the band to stardom. Duane Allman had quickly ascended to the pantheon of guitar heroes, not just from his contributions to the Allman band, but from his session work with Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett and with Eric Clapton on the classic “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs” album. But he was killed in a motorcycle accident in October 1971, just months after recording the Fillmore shows. Another motorcycle accident the following year claimed Oakley’s life. .

In a 2012 interview with The Associated Press, Gregg Allman said Duane remained on his mind every day. Once in a while, he could even feel his presence. “I can tell when he’s there, man,” Allman said. “I’m not going to get all cosmic on you. But listen, he’s there.” The 1970s brought more highly publicized turmoil: Allman was compelled to testify in a drug case against a former road manager for the band and his marriage to the actress and singer Cher was short-lived even by show business standards.

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[waltky]

Soul singer Charles Bradley Dies at 68...

‘Screaming Eagle of Soul,’ Charles Bradley Dies at 68
September 24, 2017 — Charles Bradley, known as the “Screaming Eagle of Soul” for a powerful, raspy style that evoked one of his musical heroes, James Brown, died Saturday at age 68.

Bradley, who achieved success later in life with his 2011 debut album “No Time for Dreaming,” was diagnosed with stomach cancer in the fall of 2016 and underwent treatment, according to a statement from his publicist, Shazila Mohammed. He went out on tour earlier this year after receiving a clean bill of health, but the cancer returned recently, spreading to his liver, the statement said. Recording on the Daptone label, Bradley was a fiery live performer. He followed up his first album with “Victim of Love” in 2013. His third album, “Changes,” was released last year.

Among his TV appearances was a stop last year on “CBS This Morning: Saturday,” which earned him an Emmy nomination. Born in Gainesville, Florida, Bradley found himself living in New York at age 8. He left home as a teenager and lived as an itinerant until he settled in Brooklyn 20 years ago.

Soul singer Charles Bradley performs at the Shaky Knees Music Festival in Atlanta, Ga., May 9, 2014. His publicist said Bradley died Saturday after a battle with stomach cancer.​

Bradley idolized Brown, working as a Brown impersonator known as Black Velvet before he was discovered by Gabriel Roth, a Daptone co-founder. He later became known for closing shows under his own name with hugs for his audiences. “The world lost a ton of heart today,” Roth said in the statement. “Charles was somehow one of the meekest and strongest people I’ve ever known. His pain was a cry for universal love and humanity. His soulful moans and screams will echo forever on records and in the ears and hearts of those who were fortunate enough to share time with him.”

Roth said he told Bradley recently there’s solace to be found for fans knowing Bradley “will continue to inspire love and music in this world for generations to come.” Bradley’s response? “I tried.”

‘Screaming Eagle of Soul,’ Charles Bradley Dies at 68

 

[konradv]

Tom Petty dead at 66. He didn't seem like someone who would die at what today is a relatively young age. RIP.

Tom Petty, legendary rocker, is dead at 66

 

[Marion Morrison]

Tom Petty dead at 66. He didn't seem like someone who would die at what today is a relatively young age. RIP.

Tom Petty, legendary rocker, is dead at 66

 

[konradv]

Tom Petty dead at 66. He didn't seem like someone who would die at what today is a relatively young age. RIP. Tom Petty, legendary rocker, is dead at 66

Didn't know that was his thing. Makes me wonder how Keith Richards has managed to hang around. His "thing" was different, but if anyone was likely to die long ago, it would be him, IMO.

 

[waltky]

Fats Domino passes away...

Fats Domino dead at 89, medical examiner's office says
October 25, 2017 - Antoine "Fats" Domino, a titan of early rock 'n' roll whose piano-based hits -- such as "Ain't That a Shame," "Blueberry Hill" and "Blue Monday" -- influenced artists including Paul McCartney and Randy Newman, died Tuesday, an official said.

Domino passed away due to natural causes, according to Mark Bone, chief investigator with the Jefferson Parish Medical Examiner's office in Louisiana. He was 89. With producer and arranger Dave Bartholomew, Domino cut a string of songs in the 1950s and early '60s that helped establish his hometown of New Orleans as a rock 'n' roll hotbed and made him one of the music's leading figures. The pair recorded "The Fat Man" in late 1949, a song considered one of the first rock 'n' roll records -- a group that includes Wynonie Harris' version of "Good Rockin' Tonight" (1947) and Jackie Brenston and Ike Turner's "Rocket 88" (1951) -- and followed it up with more than 30 Top 40 hits, including 23 gold singles.

Pianist and singer-songwriter Fats Domino in a photo from 1967.​

Starting in 1955, Domino was a regular on the national pop charts with songs that quickly became classics. Among the titles: "Ain't That a Shame" -- Domino's first crossover hit, which was watered down in a higher-charting version by Pat Boone -- "I'm Walkin'," "I'm Ready," "Valley of Tears," "I Want to Walk You Home" and "Walking to New Orleans." He sold more records than any 1950s figure except Elvis Presley, according to Rolling Stone.
His version of "Blueberry Hill," a song written in 1940, topped out at No. 2 on the Billboard charts and remains Domino's highest-charting record. Most of his hits were characterized by midtempo rhythms and Domino's distinctive triplet-based piano style, in which he hammered chords in groups of three in rollicking, melodic fashion. The arrangements usually included a saxophone solo and a lead guitar line that echoed the melody.


The style was widely imitated. McCartney, a big Domino fan, wrote the Beatles song "Lady Madonna" in emulation of the pianist's work. (Domino returned the favor on his 1968 comeback album, "Fats Is Back," by covering the tune.) McCartney never grew out of his Domino fascination: Thirty years later, he did a version of the 1920s tune "Coquette" on his 1999 album "Run Devil Run" that was closely based on Domino's 1958 recording. Newman, deeply influenced by New Orleans music in general, often seemed to channeling Domino's sound -- if not his smiling attitude -- in such songs as "Mama Told Me Not to Come" and "Back on My Feet Again." "I was so influenced by Fats Domino that it's still hard for me to write a song that's not a New Orleans shuffle," Newman told The New York Times in 2008. He wrote the horn arrangements for "Fats Is Back." Domino covered Newman, too, with a recording of "Have You Seen My Baby."

Domino's string of hits ended rather abruptly in the early '60s with a change of labels, from Imperial to ABC-Paramount. The latter forced him to record in Nashville, and the different atmosphere produced just one hit, a cover of the standard "Red Sails in the Sunset." But the good-natured Domino continued to tour and earn royalties, allowing him to live a comfortable lifestyle -- in New Orleans, of course, where his pink Cadillac could often be seen outside his Ninth Ward house. When Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, there was early concern that Domino, who had decided to stay in the Crescent City, had been killed by the storm. Someone even spray-painted "R.I.P. Fats -- You will be missed" on his house. However, he and his family had been rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. His estate wasn't as fortunate: "We lost everything," he said at the time.

Some of his belongings were replaced, including his gold records and a National Medal of Arts he'd been awarded in 1998 (from President Bill Clinton). His white Steinway was refurbished by the Louisiana Music Foundation, which put it on display in the French Quarter in 2013. Domino remained a steadfast part of the New Orleans scene. He played a sold-out show at Tipitina's nightclub in 2007 and appeared in an episode of the TV show "Treme" in 2012. Domino was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

Fats Domino dead at 89, medical examiner's office says - CNN

 

[waltky]

I go back to when she was a singer, before her TV acting...

Della Reese, ‘Touched By an Angel’ Star and R&B Singer, Dies at 86
Della Reese, who segued from pop and jazz singing stardom in the ‘50s and ‘60s to a long career as a popular TV actress on “Touched By an Angel” and other shows, died Sunday night at her home in California. She was 86.

“She was an incredible wife, mother, grandmother, friend, and pastor, as well as an award-winning actress and singer. Through her life and work she touched and inspired the lives of millions of people,” Reese’s family said in a statement. “She was a mother to me and I had the privilege of working with her side by side for so many years on ‘Touched By An Angel.’ I know heaven has a brand new angel this day. Della Reese will be forever in our hearts.” Reared in gospel, Reese became a seductive, big-voiced secular music star with her No. 1 R&B and No. 2 pop hit “Don’t You Know” in 1959. The 45, her first single on RCA Records, was a ballad drawn from an aria from Puccini’s opera “La Boheme.” She ranged through a series of releases that showed off her mastery of standards, jazz and contemporary pop through the early ‘70s, and over the course of her career she received four Grammy Award nominations.

Della Reese, TV star and gospel and jazz singer, whose variety talk show "Della" in the 1960s was the first of its kind to be hosted by an African American woman and who is also remembered for her role in TV's "Touched by an Angel," died Nov. 19. She was 86.​

By 1969 she had launched her TV show “Della” – the first talker hosted by an African-American woman – and had begun a move into an acting career that would take her to even greater national prominence. Speaking of her TV and film work with the Associated Press’ Bob Thomas in 1997, she said, “I had good training for it. I was always a stylist, a lyricist. I became acquainted with the words in order to convince you I must believe in what I’m singing. That’s what acting is: believing. It was just like one thing flowing into another.” After a number of guest appearances, Reese broke into TV full-time with a starring role in the hit 1975-78 Jack Albertson-Freddie Prinze comedy series “Chico and the Man.” Roles on “It Takes Two,” “Crazy Like a Fox,” “Charlie & Co.” and (opposite her good friend Redd Foxx) “The Royal Family.” She also took starring roles in the features “Harlem Nights” and “A Thin Line Between Love and Hate” and appeared in 20 made-for-TV pictures.

Her greatest popularity came as co-star of the inspirational CBS show “Touched By An Angel.” Though the show was axed during its debut 1994-95 season, a letter-writing campaign convinced execs to bring the series back, and Reese prevailed as the heavenly samaritan Tess for a total of nine seasons, winning seven consecutive NAACP Image Awards as best lead actress in a drama and collecting two Emmy nominations and a 1998 Golden Globe nod. Though she continued to make TV guest appearances and took the occasional film role in the new millennium, she returned to her religious roots as the founding pastor of her own Los Angeles-based church, Understanding Principles for Better Living (or “Up”). In later years, she was frequently billed as Reverend Doctor Della Reese Lett. She was born Delloreese Patricia Early on July 6, 1931, in Detroit. She began singing in church as a six-year-old; the glamorous black vocalist-actress Lena Horne was one of the film stars she admired as a girl. By her teens, she was working as a singer in gospel luminary Mahalia Jackson’s unit. After graduating from Detroit’s Cass Technical High School (later attended by Diana Ross), she briefly attended Wayne State University, but soon moved into music professionally, taking Della Reese as her pro handle.

Della Reese et al. sitting at a table​

Like homegrown R&B superstar Jackie Wilson, Reese received prominent exposure during an engagement at Detroit’s Flame Show Bar; her style reflected the influence of such jazz precursors as Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald. Signed to Jubilee Records, the indie New York label that launched the doo-wop acts the Orioles and the Cadillacs, Reese scored her first chart success with the 1957 ballad “And That Reminds Me,” which reached No. 12 on the U.S. pop chart. That song secured her a contract with RCA. She secured the biggest hit of her career out of the box with “Don’t You Know,” and followed it up in 1960 with the similarly styled “Not One Minute More” (No. 16 pop, No. 13 R&B). Her top-charting LP was “Della,” which climbed to No. 35 in ’60. Though other major chart hits eluded her, Reese recorded prolifically – frequently in a jazz style, and frequently in a live club setting – for RCA and ABC through the ‘60s. She was a popular attraction on the Las Vegas Strip during this era.

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