Dinah Washington, forever remembered as the “Queen of the Blues,” was one of the most distinctive voices of the 20th century. Born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and raised in Chicago, she began singing in church before joining Lionel Hampton’s band in the 1940s. Her commanding presence and crystal-clear phrasing quickly set her apart. Through the ’40s and ’50s, Washington became a major force in jazz, blues, and R&B, scoring more than two dozen Top 10 hits on the R&B charts. Her 1959 recording “What a

QUEEN OF THE BLUES: DINAH WASHINGTON : Dinah Washington (born Ruth Lee Jones) was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s". Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a wide variety of styles including blues, R&B, and traditional pop music, and gave herself the title of "Queen of the Blues". : She was a 1986 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 199