Odetta
Odetta, the legendary folk singer, complete with one of the most powerful voices in the industry, has died, aged 77.
The singer’s death is believed to be a result of heart disease, and she passed away at Lenox Hill Hospital yesterday after being admitted into the hospital with kidney failure about three weeks ago.
Proving what a true fighter she was, Odetta we determined not to let her failing health get the better of her and performed 60 concerts - each lasting around a hour and half - over the past two years, despite being reliant on the use of a wheelchair.
She leaves behind her a musical legacy which, beginning in the 1950’s, has influenced the likes of Harry Belafonte, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and several other successful singers who had roots in the folk music boom.
Perhaps most well-known for her 1956 album; "Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues," which included such songs as Muleskinner Blues and Jack O' Diamonds; and her 1957 “At the Gate of Horn," which featured the popular spiritual He's Got the Whole World in His Hands.
She didn’t just confine herself to music though, Odetta called on her fellow blacks to "take pride in the history of the American Negro" and was highly active in the civil rights movement; singing at the March on Washington in August 1963.
She was nominated for best folk recording at the 1963 Grammy awards for "Odetta Sings Folk Songs." And two more nominations came in the more recent years; in 1999 for her "Blues Everywhere I Go" and her 2005 album "Gonna Let It Shine."
In 1999, she was honored with a National Medal of the Arts and the then-President Bill Clinton said her career showed; "us all that songs have the power to change the heart and change the world."
Her final big concert was at San Francisco's Golden State Park on Ocotber 4 where she performed in front of tens of thousands of keen fans at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival.
Sadly however, she won’t be able to fulfil her dream of singing at the inauguration of America’s newly-elected President Barack Obama, though she had not been officially invited.
Odetta is survived by a daughter, Michelle Esrick of New York City, and a son, Boots Jaffre, of Fort Collins, Colo. She was divorced about 40 years ago and never remarried, her manager said.