Cassandra Wilson, the two-time Grammy Award-winning jazz singer, has died

Legendary jazz singer, songwriter, and producer Cassandra Wilson has died at the age of 70 in her native Jackson, Mississippi. Crowned America’s best singer by Time magazine in 2001, Wilson earned international acclaim for her distinct contralto voice and genre-bending style that fused traditional blues-based jazz with folk, pop, R&B, and country. Born to musical parents in Jackson, Wilson studied piano and clarinet before launching her professional career in New Orleans and joining New York’s M-Base Collective in the 1980s. She secured four Grammy nominations and two wins for best jazz vocal album, taking home trophies in 1997 for New Moon Daughter and 2009 for Loverly. In 2015, she released her final album, Coming Forth by Day, as an homage to Billie Holiday, and received a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master fellowship in 2022. Tributes poured in from musicians like Jon Batiste and local officials honoring her profound cultural impact.