Vaughan, Sarah Lois (1924-1990)

US jazz singer. She began by singing bebop with such musicians as Dizzy Gillespie and later moved effortlessly between jazz and romantic ballads, her voice having a range of nearly three octaves. She toured very widely and had several hit singles, including ‘Make Yourself Comfortable’ (1954), ‘Mr Wonderful’ (1956), and ‘Broken-Hearted Melody’ (1959).

At the age of 18 she entered a talent contest at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and impressed Billy Eckstine, whose newly formed band she joined in 1944. From her first recording sessions with Eckstine emerged ‘It's Magic’, a hit in 1947. In 1945 she left Eckstine's band and made a career for herself as a solo singer. She used such vocal techniques as vibrato, vocal leaps, scat singing, and improvisation. In 1982 she won a Grammy Award for the best female jazz vocal performance for the album Gershwin Live!.

Her vocal control and the beauty of her tone were the hallmarks of her singing in any musical genre, and her vocal contribution to the development of bebop was of the first importance. She remained a popular performer in nightclubs, at jazz festivals, and with symphony orchestras around the world until shortly before her death.

She was honoured in 1999 when the city of Newark, New Jersey, renamed the street in front of its Performing Arts Center as Sarah Vaughan Way.