Acclaimed jazz vocalist, songwriter, and producer Cassandra Wilson has died at the age of 70.
The two-time Grammy Award winner passed away peacefully Tuesday morning at her home in her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi, surrounded by family, close friends, and her manager. The news was confirmed by Hinds County Coroner Jeramiah Howard.
”It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Cassandra Wilson, the Grammy Award-winning and legendary jazz artist. Cassandra Wilson transitioned peacefully at home, surrounded by family, close friends, and her manager,” her manager said in a statement provided to jazz radio station WBGO.
In 2001, Time magazine named Wilson “America’s best singer.” Known for her deep contralto voice, she built a career on blending traditional blues-based jazz with folk, pop, R&B, and country influences.
Jackson Mayor John Horhn honored the late artist, stating that the city “has lost an extraordinary native daughter, and the world has lost a singular musical voice.”
”Cassandra Wilson carried the sound, spirit and history of Mississippi with her wherever her music reached,” Horhn said in a statement given to WJTV. “Her work had rare depth of character and a profound understanding of how music moves people, tells stories and connects generations.”
Musician Jon Batiste also offered a tribute on Instagram, posting a clip of the two performing together on Brazilian television in 2009.
Related: Country Music Legend, Dolly Parton Dies at 80
”She had an unmistakable vocal tone, phrasing and her approach of weaving folkloric, R&B and diasporic music together with experimental and popular genres had a major impact on me,” Batiste wrote. “Her Mississippi heritage was always present in everything no matter how expansive her artistry evolved.”
Batiste added in a eulogy Wednesday that Wilson “sounded like the South” and remembered her as “one of the first people to take me on tour around the world, the great Cassandra Wilson.”
Born in Jackson to musician Herman B. Fowlkes and teacher Mary Fowlkes, Wilson grew up listening to Motown, Miles Davis, and Thelonious Monk. She started piano lessons at age 6 and played clarinet in marching bands. While attending Millsaps College and Jackson State University, she sang in cover bands and performed at coffeehouses.
Wilson moved to New Orleans in the early 1980s, where she was mentored by prominent jazz artists. She later relocated to New York City and joined Steve Coleman’s M-Base Collective, serving as the group’s lead vocalist.
Over her career, Wilson earned four Grammy nominations and won two awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album: first in 1997 for New Moon Daughter and again in 2009 for Loverly.
In 2015, she performed a special tribute concert at the Apollo Theater to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary blues and jazz vocalist Billie Holiday. That same year, she released her final album, Coming Forth by Day, which served as an homage to Holiday.
Wilson received one of the highest honors for American jazz musicians in 2022 when she was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master.
Read More: Keffe Duane Davis Convicted in 1996 Murder of Rapper Tupac Shakur