Sarah Vaughan
Jazz singer, pianist
Born: March 27, 1924, in Newark, New Jersey
Died: April 3, 1990, in Hidden Hills, California
New Jersey Hall of Fame, Class of 2012: Arts & Entertainment
Sarah Vaughan was considered a “singer’s singer,” but you hardly had to be an aficionado to appreciate her lush, expressive vocals on some of the most memorable jazz recordings of the 1950s through the 1980s.
The daughter of a carpenter and a laundress, Vaughan grew up in a deeply religious family. Her father played guitar and piano, and her mother sang in the choir at Newark’s Mt. Zion Baptist Church, so it was natural that the young Sarah would develop a love for music. By age 7 she was taking piano lessons and singing in the Mt. Zion choir. Eventually, she became a choir soloist.
Vaughan’s first break came at 18 when she won an Amateur Night contest at Manhattan’s Apollo Theater. Soon, she was hired as a singer and second pianist for the popular Earl Hines Orchestra. Her next gig was with Billy Eckstine’s big band. In the ensuing years, she performed with a rollcall of jazz giants, including Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Oscar Peterson, Louie Bellson, and Dizzy Gillespie.
Throughout those early years, Vaughan earned a reputation for her wide vocal range, improvisational brilliance, and an ability to bend notes like an instrumentalist. She also earned a nickname—“Sassy”—which stuck for life. She later was tagged with another, more regal nickname: “The Divine One.”
Vaughan started her solo career in 1945, fronting small groups in Manhattan’s jazz clubs. In 1947, her recording of “Tenderly” became a surprise pop hit. During the 1950s, Vaughan enjoyed the peak of her stardom as both jazz and pop vocalist. She was a frequent guest on early television, recorded a steady stream of albums, and toured non-stop throughout the decade.
In 1954, Vaughan was featured at the first Newport Jazz Festival; she became a fixture at the festival for the rest of her performing days. The same year, she made her Carnegie Hall debut with the Count Basie Orchestra and undertook a major European tour. Among her best-known hits of the period were “Whatever Lola Wants” (1955), “Misty” (1957), and the million-selling “Broken-Hearted Melody” (1959).
In the 1960s, as musical tastes began to change, Vaughan stayed current by recording repertoire from contemporary pop groups and songwriters such as Henry Mancini, Michel Legrand, and Steven Sondheim. A 1975 recording of Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns” became Vaughan’s signature song. She also leaned heavily on the timeless music of the Gershwins, and recorded two Duke Ellington songbook albums in 1979.
During her career, Vaughan received nine Grammy nominations, winning twice, including a Lifetime Achievement Award. She earned an Emmy Award for the 1980 PBS broadcast of her Gershwin performance with the New Jersey Symphony. In 1989, the National Endowment for the Arts honored Vaughan with its Jazz Masters Award.
At her posthumous induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2012, famed jazz artist Christian McBride said of Vaughan: “She had vocal skills that could swirl like a tornado. She could mesmerize you and wow you with the most awesome vocal technique you ever heard, but yet she could pluck your heartstrings with just one simple syllable.”