Nancy Wilson (singer)

Nancy Wilson (born February 20, 1937) is an African-American singer whose sixty-plus albums have blended jazz and pop music. She currently hosts a jazz radio program on NPR, Jazz Profiles.

Related Topics:
February 20 - 1937 - African-American - Jazz - Pop music - NPR - Jazz Profiles

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Wilson was born in Chillicothe, Ohio. At age 15, she won a local talent contest, the prize for which was her own television series, "Skyline Melodies," on a local station.

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In 1956, she joined Rusty Bryant's Carolyn Club Band and made her first recording for Dot Records.

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While performing in Columbus, Wilson had an opportunity to sit in with Cannonball Adderley, who sensed her potential and helped her to get her a manager, John Levy. This led to the recording contract at Capitol Records.

Related Topics:
Cannonball Adderley - Capitol Records

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At Capitol, Wilson' s first recording was "Like In Love". She scored her first big hit in 1962 with Cannonball Adderley and "Save Your Love For Me."

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By the mid-1960s, Wilson had become one of the label's best-selling artists, second only to the Beatles. In 1964, she won a Grammy Award for "How Glad I Am" and an Emmy Award for her 1967-68 NBC series, The Nancy Wilson Show. She also performed on The Carol Burnett Show several times between 1966 and 1971.

Related Topics:
The Beatles - Grammy Award - Emmy Award - NBC - The Nancy Wilson Show - The Carol Burnett Show

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In 1983, she won the Tokyo Song Festival and went on to cut five successful albums for Japanese labels.

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Back in the US, she began her association with her current label, Columbia Records, in 1984, collaborating with such artists as Ramsey Lewis and working on an album of previously-unpublished Johnny Mercer lyrics set to the music by co-producer Barry Manilow, "With My Lover Beside Me." (1991).

Related Topics:
Columbia Records - Ramsey Lewis - Johnny Mercer - Barry Manilow

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In the 1990s, Wilson began acting on a regular basis, appearing on "The Sinbad Show" and "The Bill Cosby Special" on television and in such films as Robert Townsend's Meteor Man.

Related Topics:
The Sinbad Show - The Bill Cosby Special - Meteor Man

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She was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1999.

Related Topics:
Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame - 1999

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