Cassandra Wilson, Two-Time Grammy-Winning Jazz Singer, Dies at 70
The genre-bending vocalist, celebrated for her distinctive contralto, died at her home in Jackson, Mississippi.
Cassandra Wilson, the two-time Grammy Award-winning jazz singer, songwriter and producer, has died at 70.
Wilson died in her native Jackson, Mississippi, on Tuesday morning, Hinds County Coroner Jeramiah Howard confirmed.
"It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Cassandra Wilson, the Grammy Award-winning and legendary jazz artist. Cassandra Wilson transitioned peacefully at home, surrounded by family, close friends, and her manager," a statement from her manager said, according to jazz radio station WBGO.
Dubbed America's best singer by Time magazine in 2001, Wilson was known for a genre-bending voice that pushed past traditional blues-based jazz into folk, pop, R&B, country and beyond. Her idiosyncratic contralto was distinctly tied to her Mississippi roots.
Born and raised in Jackson to musician Herman B. Fowlkes and teacher Mary Fowlkes, Wilson began piano lessons at age 6 and played clarinet in marching bands. She performed at coffeehouses and in cover bands while studying at Millsaps College and Jackson State University.
In the early 1980s, she mentored under jazz greats in New Orleans before moving to New York City, where she joined Steve Coleman's M-Base Collective and became its main vocalist.
Her voice earned four Grammy nominations and two wins for best jazz vocal album, in 1997 for "New Moon Daughter" and 2009 for "Loverly." In 2015, she gave a special concert at the Apollo Theater marking the 100th birthday of Billie Holiday and released her final album, "Coming Forth by Day," an homage to Holiday. In 2022, she was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master.
Musician Jon Batiste paid tribute on Instagram, saying Wilson's "unmistakable vocal tone, phrasing" and weaving of folkloric, R&B and diasporic music with experimental and popular genres had a major impact on him. "Her Mississippi heritage was always present in everything no matter how expansive her artistry evolved," he wrote, recalling that she was among the first to take him on tour internationally.
Jackson Mayor John Horhn said the city "has lost an extraordinary native daughter, and the world has lost a singular musical voice," adding that Wilson "carried the sound, spirit and history of Mississippi with her wherever her music reached."
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