Nancy Wilson, Grammy Winning Jazz Singer and TV Personality, Dies at 81

Nancy Wilson, one of the most revered jazz singers of the 20th century, has died at age 81, her manager told the Associated Press. 

The singer passed away at her home in Pioneertown, a small California community north of Palm Springs, after a long illness, according to manager Devra Hall.

Wilson’s three Grammy awards spanned a more than 40-year period, with her first coming in 1965 in the Best Rhythm & Blues category for her Capitol single “How Glad I Am.” Her last was in 2007, awarded for Best Jazz Vocal Album for “Turned to Blue,” her final release. (She had seven nominations in all.) Wilson’s recording career actually dates back to 1959, when she released “Like in Love,” an album arranged by the legendary Billy May.

Outside of the music intelligentsia, Wilson may be remembered by millions of TV viewers who recall her 1974-75 NBC variety series, “The Nancy Wilson Show was frequently a guest herself on the variety shows hosted by Carol Burnett, Andy Williams and Flip Wilson as well as acting on “The Cosby Show” and dramatic series like “The F.B.I.” and “Hawaii 5-O.”

From 1996 through 2005, Wilson was familiar to NPR listeners as the host of “Jazz Profiles,” a documentary series that produced more than 190 episodes. The Peabody-winning series remains available as a podcast.

She retired in 2011 after performing her last concert in Athens, Ohio, saying, “I’m not going to be doing it anymore, and what better place to end it than where I started — in Ohio.”

Wilson began her career on television in Columbus, Ohio as a teenager before moving to New York City in her 20s, following the advice of Cannonball Adderley, with whom she would later record a collaborative album. Her first record deal was with the Dot label, but upon signing with Capitol, Wilson’s early-’60s sales were said to be behind only the Beatles and ahead of Frank SInatra’s.

Wilson has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — and can also be found on the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame, honoring her participation in the integration marches of the 1960s. She was also the recipient of a NAACP Lifetime Achievement Award, the United Negro College Fund Trumpet Award and the Oprah Winfrey Legends Award.