1. BBC Music
  2. Artists
  3. Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald

radio2

Born 25 April 1917. Died 15 June 1996.

Photo of Ella Fitzgerald Snowboy & The Latin Section

Biography

Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996), also known as "Lady Ella", and the "First Lady of Song", was an American jazz vocalist. With a vocal range spanning three octaves, she was noted for her purity of tone, phrasing and intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.

She is widely considered one of the supreme interpreters of the Great American Songbook. Over a recording career that lasted 59 years, she was the winner of 13 Grammy Awards, and was awarded the National Medal of Art by Ronald Reagan and the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George H. W. Bush.

Read more at Wikipedia...

Wikipedia This entry is from Wikipedia, the user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. If you find the biography content factually incorrect, defamatory or highly offensive you can edit this article at Wikipedia. Find out more about our use of this data .

Latest Blog Posts Really Simple Syndication

Blogs from the BBC

  1. The Beatles Recovered

    Tue 8 Sep 2009 17:20 The Beatles started off as a covers band and half the first Beatles' album consists of... Mark Cooper

Albums releases

Release title Release date
Lullabies Of Birdland 2007
Sweet and Hot 2007
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Song Book 2001
The Irving Berlin Songbook 2000
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book 1999
 

Explore the BBC

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.