Dinah Washington

DINAH WASHINGTON d1963. American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950's. Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a wide variety of styles including blues / R&B and traditional pop music giving herself the title of "Queen of the Blues". 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. On the morning of December 14th 1963, Dinah Washington's seventh husband (football great Dick Lane) went to sleep with her and awoke later to find her slumped over and not responsive. A Doctor BC Ross came to the scene and pronounced her dead. An autopsy later showed a lethal combination of drugs which had contributed to her death at the age of just 39. She is buried in the Burr Oak Cemetery in Illinois.