Shirley Horn, the Grammy-winning singer and pianist whose richly expressive vocal style made her one of the most popular performers in jazz, died Thursday night in her hometown of Washington. She was 71.
Horn died after a lengthy illness, the Verve Music Group, her record label, announced Friday.
Horn had been ill for some time. She lost her right foot to diabetes in 2001 and later much of her right leg. She had also battled breast cancer and arthritis over the last few years.
“We’ve lost the last of the great ones from that generation,” composer Johnny Mandel, who arranged her albums “Here’s to Life” and “You’re My Thrill,” told the Los Angeles Times on Friday. “I think she was the best singer there was.”
“She can swing, but slow songs are her specialty,” Marian McPartland, the pianist and host of the National Public Radio program “Piano Jazz,”said some years ago.
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