Ella Fitzgerald (25 April 1917–15 June 1996) was an American jazz singer considered one of the greatest jazz vocalists ever. She was also famously called 'The First Lady of Song' and won thirteen Grammy Awards. Fitzgerald had a wide range of four octaves and clear diction. Her voice was also well suited for scat singing. There was criticism as well: some said her voice was not suited for songs with much depth as she made everything sound cheerful.
Ella Fitzgerald had a difficult and poor childhood. The year before her big breakthrough, she was even homeless. She was discovered in the autumn of 1934 at an amateur contest at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. Subsequently, Chick Webb took her into his Savoy Ballroom orchestra and Fitzgerald began to make a name for herself. With Webb, she recorded for Decca Records from 1935, with her rendition of the children's song A-Tisket, A-Tasket becoming a hit.
Her voice remained vital until the early 1980s but declined sharply from 1984 onwards. Her last record, with saxophonist Benny Carter, who had discovered her in 1934, reflects this. In 1987, France Gall made a song about her: Ella, elle l'a, which Kate Ryan released a renewed version of in 2008. In 1989 or 1990, Fitzgerald reportedly recorded another album that was never released.
Her very last recording dates from 1991, when she sang the soundtrack for the Japanese film Setting Sun. At the end of 1992, she gave her last public performances. Although she was asked in 1993 for a duet on a Frank Sinatra album, she stayed at home in Beverly Hills afterwards. Due to diabetes, both her lower legs were amputated in 1993. During the 1990s, she suffered more consequences of diabetes, which ultimately caused her death in 1996 at the age of 79.
On 3 November 2019, Ella was a guest on our Sunday Morning Classics.
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