Biography of Sarah Vaughan

She sang and played piano in church in her native Newark, but on a dare entered the famous Apollo Theater Amateur Hour contest and won, singing "Body and Soul." Billy Eckstine heard her, recognized her very special talent, and recommended her to his boss, Earl Hines. This was in 1943, when Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie were in The Hines band; she followed them into Eckstine's new and revolutionary big band in late 1944. By 1946 she was out on her own and pursued a successful solo career until the end of her life. Sarah (or "Sassy", as her fans called her; she was also known as "The Divine One") had a voice that would have served for an operatic career (or that of a gospel singer), but to our good fortune she chose jazz, though she often "crossed over" into pop. Her ear was as good as any improvising horn player's, her range spanned three full octaves. At her best, Sarah Vaughan not only had the finest voice ever applied to jazz singing -- she had the creative ideas to match it. ~ Dan Morgenstern