Nancy Wilson

Description

Nancy Wilson:  born in 1937 Nancy won a talent contest at age 15. The prize was a twice-weekly appearance on a tv show which she later hosted. She continued to perform locally until her graduation at age 17. She moved to NYC and got her big break 4 weeks later appearing at The Blue Morocco as a substitute singer. They loved her and signed her to appear 4 times a week which she did while holding a secretarial job. Capitol Records signed her in 1960. She recorded 5 albums between 1960 and 1962. Between 1964 and 1965 4 of her albums reached the top 10. By 1971 she had logged an additional 11 songs in the top 100. She made appearances on many tv shows, recorded live for Japanese audiences, Betty has recorded with Hank Jones, Chick Corea, Johnny Mercer, and Barry Manilow. Nancy has won 3 Grammy Awards, a Peabody Award, NAACP Image Award, an honorary degree from Berklee College of Music, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame and the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame for which she was most proud. She has many other awards too numerous to recount here. Nancy died after a long battle with kidney cancer at age 81.