Mae Wheeler
May 15, 1934 – June 15, 2011
Mae Wheeler was a popular St. Louis singer who became affectionately known over the years as “Lady Jazz.” Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Wheeler began singing in church choirs as early as the age of 4, but soon moved to St. Louis with her family. As she got older, Wheeler began making a name for herself at the clubs throughout the city’s storied Gaslight Quarter of the 1960s. Over the course of her decades-long career, Wheeler shared the stage with such luminaries as Count Basie, Mitch Miller, and Pearl Bailey. She also released two CDs. During the mid-’90s, Wheeler launched an annual event that would eventually become known as “The Divas Show” and which showcased local young talent while raising money for charity. Mae Wheeler passed away on June 15, 2011 following a lengthy struggle with leukemia and colon cancer. She was 77.
The great Pearl Bailey was a singer and actress who went from the vaudeville stage to television and Broadway, eventually winning an Emmy and Tony award. She began her career as a teenager singing and dancing in clubs in the Philadelphia area. By the early ’40s she was entertaining troops with the USO. Upon her return to the states, Bailey settled in New York where she performed with the likes of 
