Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington (/ˈdaɪnə/; born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, one of the most popular black female recording artists of the 1950s.[1] Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a wide variety of styles including blues, R&B, and traditional pop music,[1] and gave herself the title of "Queen of the Blues".[2] She was a 1986 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
"The Queen of the Blues" redirects here. For the Chicago Blues singer, see Koko Taylor. For Taylor's album, see Queen of the Blues.
Dinah Washington
Ruth Lee Jones
August 29, 1924
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S.
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
December 14, 1963 (aged 39)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
- Singer
- musician
1941–1963
Early life[edit]
Ruth Lee Jones was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to Alice and Ollie Jones,[3] and moved to Chicago as a child. She became deeply involved in gospel music and played piano for the choir in St. Luke's Baptist Church while still in elementary school. She sang gospel music in church and played piano, directing her church choir in her teens and was a member of the Sallie Martin Gospel Singers.[4] When she joined the Sallie Martin group, she dropped out of Wendell Phillips High School. She sang lead with the first female gospel singers formed by Sallie Martin,[5] who was co-founder of the Gospel Singers Convention. Her involvement with the gospel choir occurred after she won an amateur contest at Chicago's Regal Theater where she sang "I Can't Face the Music".[6]
Recordings by Dinah Washington were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance."[25]
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed her "TV Is the Thing (This Year)" as one of the songs that shaped rock and roll.[26]