Died On This Date (September 1, 1977) Ethel Waters / Early Jazz Singer
themusicsover Ethel Waters
October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977
Ethel Waters was a jazz, blues and spiritual vocalist who first came to prominence in the 1920s. She got her start in the same Atlanta club that featured Bessie Smith who reportedly ask Waters to stay away from singing the blues as to not compete with her. Later she found a home in theater, making it all the way to the Broadway stage. She began working in film in the ’30s, even receiving a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work in 1949’s Pinky. She was only the second African American ever nominated for an Academy Award. Three of her recordings, 1925’s “Dinah,” 1929’s “Am I Blue,” and 1933’s “Stormy Weather” were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Ethal Waters died of heart disease in 1977. She was 80 years old.
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