Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald, known as "The First Lady of Song," was a revolutionary American jazz singer. She is known for her purity of range and intonation. But her hallmark was her improvisational scat singing.

Ella's primary exposure to music was through her childhood church services and listening to her mom's jazz records. When her mother died while Ella was a teenager, Ella's world was turned upside down. She began singing on the streets of Harlem to make ends meet.

At 17, she entered the famous amateur show competition at the Apollo Theater, which led to her being hired as a singer for Chick Webb's orchestra. When Webb died in 1939, Fitzgerald assumed leadership of the band for the next two years, beginning her solo career.

In the 1950s with her new manager Norman Granz, her career soared to new heights. She recorded with numerous greats, including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Oscar Peterson.

A typical performance by Ella would include works from several decades and styles—swing, bop, bossa nova, soul and Broadway show music—as well as composers ranging from Duke Ellington to Burt Bacharach. She really could do it all.

Aside from music, she was a child welfare advocate and regularly made donations to help disadvantaged youth.