Jazz Singer Cassandra Wilson Dies at 70 in Mississippi

Cassandra Wilson, the Mississippi-born singer whose deep contralto moved freely between jazz, blues, folk, pop, R&B and country, has died at 70. Hinds County Coroner Jeramiah Howard confirmed that she died Tuesday morning in her native Jackson.

Her manager said Wilson “transitioned peacefully at home, surrounded by family, close friends, and her manager.” The statement was issued to jazz radio station WBGO after the two-time Grammy winner’s death.

Wilson grew up in Jackson, the daughter of musician Herman B. Fowlkes and teacher Mary Fowlkes. She began piano lessons at six, later played clarinet in marching bands, and performed in coffeehouses and cover bands while studying at Millsaps College and Jackson State University. In the early 1980s, she studied under jazz musicians in New Orleans before moving to New York and joining Steve Coleman’s M-Base Collective, eventually becoming its principal vocalist.

Her unmistakable voice brought four Grammy nominations and two wins for best jazz vocal album. She won in 1997 for “New Moon Daughter” and in 2009 for “Loverly.” In 2015, she performed at the Apollo Theater in a concert marking Billie Holiday’s centenary and released “Coming Forth by Day,” her final album and an homage to Holiday. The National Endowment for the Arts named Wilson a Jazz Master in 2022, one of the highest honors in American jazz.

“

transitioned peacefully at home, surrounded by family, close friends, and her manager