Singer. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, she was a pioneering African-American blues singer and songwriter. In the mid 1900s, she started singing in the Dreamland ballroom Chicago and toured Europe in 1917. During the 1920s and 1930s, she appeared in clubs and on stage in musicals in New York and London. As a songwriter, her credits included "Downhearted Blues," "The Darktown Strutters' Ball," "Queenie," and "You Can't Tell The Difference After Dark." She toured with a U.S.O. troupe entertaining troops for the duration of World War II and into the early postwar period. In the 1950s, she retired from performing and entered the medical field as a nurse, but successfully resumed her singing career in her eighties. She died in New York City.
Singer. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, she was a pioneering African-American blues singer and songwriter. In the mid 1900s, she started singing in the Dreamland ballroom Chicago and toured Europe in 1917. During the 1920s and 1930s, she appeared in clubs and on stage in musicals in New York and London. As a songwriter, her credits included "Downhearted Blues," "The Darktown Strutters' Ball," "Queenie," and "You Can't Tell The Difference After Dark." She toured with a U.S.O. troupe entertaining troops for the duration of World War II and into the early postwar period. In the 1950s, she retired from performing and entered the medical field as a nurse, but successfully resumed her singing career in her eighties. She died in New York City.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
