(First Female Black Singer Heard On Radio)
One of the first jazz singers, Waters was a pioneer for women, musicians, and African Americans. Her voice is lively, strong, and sweet in all of her hundreds of recordings of jazz standards including “Am I Blue“, “Black and Blue”, “Cabin in the Sky“, and “Georgia on My Mind“. She was a star on stage, then radio, then Broadway, then film and is now considered a legend whose influence is immeasurable. Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Lena Horne all acknowledged her impact, with the latter stating she was “the mother of us all”.
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