Vocalist and actress Dee Dee Bridgewater was born on this date in 1950. Born in Memphis, Tennessee and raised in Flint, Michigan, her father was a trumpet player and teacher who exposed her to jazz at an early age. At 18, Dee Dee enrolled at Michigan State University later transferring to the University of Illinois where she was the featured vocalist with their jazz ensemble that toured the Soviet Union in 1969.

In 1970 she met and married trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater and they moved the New York City where he was a member of Horace Silver’s group.  Soon Dee Dee Bridgewater was singing with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra every Monday night at the Village Vanguard. In 1973 she performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. She released her first solo album the following year.

Along with her successful career as a singer, Dee Dee Bridgewater was also cast as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the Broadway production of “The Wiz,” for which she won the 1975 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress.  Over the years Dee Dee has performed with a myriad of greats including Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Max Roach and Dexter Gordon. In addition, she has won two Grammys, in 1997 for the album ”Dear Ella,“ and in 2010 for the record ”Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie with Love from Dee Dee.“ Today she continues to tour the world and is a major force working with UNESCO on the annual World Jazz Day celebration each April.

Here is a link to Dee Dee Bridgewater singing Billie Holiday's God Bless the Child in 2021 at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Center:

"GOD BLESS THE CHILD"