Nancy Wilson

Nancy Sue Wilson (February 20, 1937 – December 13, 2018) was an American singer, whose career spanned over five decades, from the mid-1950s until her retirement in the early 2010s. Wilson is the world's best-selling artist, selling over 800 million records worldwide and is the highest-certified artist in the United States, totaling more than 360.5 million units. A musical and cultural icon, she is one of the most important figures of the 20th century. Wilson broke down many racial and gender barriers, while influencing and changing the musical landscape in the 1960s and 1970s. She's also considered by many to be one of the most versatile artists of her generation, with experimenting with numerous genres over her career. Wilson has been referred to my numerous critics as one of the greatest vocalists of all-time.

Born in Chillicothe, Ohio, Wilson embarked her musical career, after dropping out of college and signed with Capital Records in 1960. Her earlier releases Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley (1962), How Glad I Am (1964), Gentle Is My Love (1965) and A Touch Of Today (1966) were more jazz and traditional pop-influenced records. By the late 1960s, Wilson began moving towards a R&B, blues and soul-influenced sound, with the releases of Hurt So Bad (1968), Now I'm A Woman (1970) and Kaleidoscope (1971). Following a contract renewal with Captiol Records, worth $32 million dollars, Wilson enjoyed a period of blockbuster and record-breaking successes during the mid-1970s, including All in Love Is Fair (1974), Come Get to This (1975), This Mother's Daughter (1976), and I've Never Been to Me (1977), accumulating 17 Billboard Hot 100 number ones and 27 consecutive top-ten hits between these releases. Her biggest single, "Life, Love And Harmony" (1979), became the one of best-selling singles of all-time and is the best-selling disco single, selling over 26 million copies worldwide.

Wilson also had her own variety series The Nancy Wilson Show (1967-1968), which aired on NBC. She also starred in numerous television shows and films, such as I Spy, ''Room 222, Hawaii Five-O, Police Story, The Cosby Show. Soul Food, New York Undercover, Moesha, The Parkers and The Meteor Man''. She also was a civil right activist throughout her career, which she was later honored by civil rights organizations such as the NAACP. After Wilson's second marriage, she abstained from heavy touring and performing at various venues throughout the 1970s and 80s.

Wilson has multiple records under her belt. Billboard described Wilson as the "most successful artist on the Hot 100", with more than 250 entries and is placed at number one their "Greatest Of All-Time Artists. She has accumulated 33 Billboard Hot 100 number ones and 61 top-ten hits, more than any other artist. Wilson is the only artist to have six albums that produced more than five top-ten singles each. She also the most diamond albums in the United States, with eleven. She has recorded more than 70 albums during her performing career. She received many nicknames, including "Sweet Nancy", "The Baby", "Fancy Miss Nancy" and "The Girl With the Honey-Coated Voice", "consummate actress"; and "the complete entertainer". The title she preferred, however, was "song stylist". In 1989, Wilson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1937-1958: Early life and career beginnings
Nancy Sue Wilson was born on February 20, 1937, in Chillicothe, Ohio,[3][4] the first of six children of Olden Wilson, an iron foundry worker, and Lillian Ryan, a maid.[5][6] Wilson's father would buy records to listen to at home. At an early age Wilson heard recordings from Billy Eckstine, Nat King Cole, and Jimmy Scott with Lionel Hampton's Big Band. Wilson says: "The juke joint down on the block had a great jukebox and there I heard Dinah Washington, Ruth Brown, LaVerne Baker, Little Esther".[7] Wilson became aware of her talent while singing in church choirs, imitating singers as a young child, and performing in her grandmother's house during summer visits.[6] By the age of four, she knew she would eventually become a singer.

At the age of 15, now attending Columbus, Ohio's West High School, Wilson won a talent contest sponsored by the local ABC television station WTVN. The prize was an appearance on a twice-a-week television show, Skyline Melodies, which she later hosted.[8] She also worked clubs on the east side and north side of Columbus, Ohio, from the age of 15 until she graduated from West High School at age 17. Unsure of her future as an entertainer, she entered college to pursue teaching. She spent one year at Ohio's Central State College (now Central State University) before dropping out and following her original ambitions. She auditioned and won a spot with Rusty Bryant's Carolyn Club Big Band in 1956. She toured with them throughout Canada and the Midwest from 1956 to 1958.[9] While in this group, Wilson made her first recording under Dot Records.[6]

With Lloyd Haynes in a guest appearance on TV's Room 222 (1970).

1959-1964: Early years at Capitol
When Wilson met Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, he suggested she move to New York City for career opportunities. In 1959, she moved to New York to try to hire Adderley's manager and get a contract with Capitol Records.[10] Within four weeks of her arrival in New York she got her first big break, a call to fill in for Irene Reid at "The Blue Morocco". The club booked Wilson on a permanent basis; she was singing four nights a week and working as a secretary for the New York Institute of Technology during the day.

John Levy sent demos of "Guess Who I Saw Today", "Sometimes I'm Happy", and two other songs to Capitol. Capitol Records signed her in 1960. Wilson and Danny Kaye, 1965. Wilson's debut single, "Guess Who I Saw Today", was so successful that between April 1960 and July 1962 Capitol Records released five Nancy Wilson albums. Her first album, Like in Love, displayed her talent in Rhythm and Blues. Adderley suggested that she should steer away from her original pop style and gear her music to jazz and ballads.[6] In 1962, they collaborated, producing the album Nancy Wilson and Cannonball Adderley, which propelled her to national prominence with the hit R&B song, "Save Your Love For Me", and Wilson would later appear on Adderley's live album In Person (1968). Between March 1964 and June 1965, four of Wilson's albums reached the Top 10 on Billboard 's Top LPs chart. In 1963 "Tell Me The Truth" became her first truly major hit, leading up to her performance at the Coconut Grove in 1964 – the turning point of her career, garnering critical acclaim from coast to coast.[10] TIME said of her, "She is, all at once, both cool and sweet, both singer and storyteller."[11] In 1964 Wilson released what became her most successful hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am", which peaked at No. 11. From 1963 to 1971 Wilson logged eleven songs on the Hot 100, including two Christmas singles. However, "Face It Girl, It's Over" was the only remaining non-Christmas song to crack the Top 40 for Wilson (#29, in 1968). Wilson in March 1968. After making numerous television guest appearances,

1968-1973: Transition to R&B, Now I'm a Woman and career setbacks
By the late 1960s, Wilson was the best-selling artist on Capitol Records, second only to The Beatles.

1974-1977: All in Love Is Fair, Come Get to This, This Mother's Daughter and I've Never Been to Me
In November 1973, renewed her contract with Capitol Records for $32 million dollars ($187,589,189 in 2020), highest record deal for an artist at the time. This deal included a four-album for four years, with creative freedom. Apart from her record-deal, Wilson abstained from heavy touring, so she she could balance work and family. Shortly after the record-breaking deal, the development for her 30th studio album, All in Love Is Fair began. The recording sessions took place from January 1974 to July 1974. The album was released on August 12, 1974, and was a critical and commercial success. The album brought a new sound to Wilson, further broadening her worldwide appeal. Singles from the album included, "Ocean Of Love", "Streetrunner", "You're As Right As Rain", and "Tell The Truth". All in Love Is Fair produced a record-breaking seven Billboard Hot 100 top-ten hits, and remained atop of the Billboard 200 for 26 non-consecutive weeks. It also charted at number one in numerous markets globally. The album has spent a total of 572 weeks on the chart to date, and has sold over 48 million copies globally, making it the fourth best-selling album of all time.

At the 17th Annual Grammy Awards, All in Love Is Fair received won six awards, including Song Of The Year for "Streetrunner" and Record Of The Year for "Tell The Truth". Wilson would soon become the first black female artist to receive an Album Of The Year nomination, since Ella Fitzgerald in 1959, for her album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook.In June that year, Wilson released her 31st studio album, Come Get to This, which proved to be a success. Come Get to This went on to produce four Billboard Hot 100 number one singles, "If I Ever Lose This Heaven", "Houdini Of The Midnite Hour", "Like a Circle Never Stops" and "All My Love Comes Down". Come Get to This was the world's best-selling album that year and the second best-selling album in the United States, remaining atop of the Billboard 200 chart for 18 non-consecutive weeks. The album was certified 18x Platinum and has sold over 41 million copies worldwide. At the 18th Grammy Awards, Come Get to This was nominated for Album Of The Year and won four awards in total, including Song Of The Year for "Houdini Of The Midnite Hour" and Record Of The Year "Like a Circle Never Stops".

By late 1975, Wilson wanted to craft an album that different sound from her previous two albums. Her single, "This Mother's Daughter" was released in December 1975. The single proved to be a massive success, peaking number one in numerous global markets, including on the Billboard Hot 100 for eight non-consecutive weeks. It was the best-selling single of 1976 and Wilson's second best-selling single, selling over 14 million copies globally. A few months after the release of the lead single, Wilson's 32nd studio album, This Mother's Daughter released on April 7, 1976.

The album was a critical and commercial success, becoming the best-selling selling album of 1976 in the United States, and the world's best-selling album of 1976 and 197. This Mother's Daughter peaked atop of the Billboard 200 chart for 35 non-consecutive weeks, making it the second-longest running number one album in the United States. The album went on to chart numerous markets around the globe, including Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Other than the album's lead single, This Mother's Daughter produced a record-breaking eight Billboard Hot 100 top-ten hits, such as "China", "Now", "From You to Me To You", "I Don't Want A Sometimes Man", "Tree Of Life", "Love Has Smiled On Us" and "He Never Had It So Good". By the end of 1977, This Mother's Daughter sold over 31 million copies, making it the world's best-selling album, up until 1984, when Michael Jackson's Thriller surpassed it. As of 2020, This Mother's Daughter has sold over 60 million copies worldwide, making it the world's second best-selling album of all time. At the 19th Annual Grammy Awards, This Mother's Daughter won all seven of it's awards, including "Now" for Record Of The Year, "This Mother's Daughter" for Song Of The Year and Album Of The Year, tied with Stevie Wonder's Songs In The Key of Life. This made it the first and only album in Grammys history to have an album tie in that category.

In June 1977, Wilson released her 33rd studio album, I've Never Been to Me, titled after the hit single by American singer, Charlene, whom Wilson covered. The release marked as Wilson's fourth consecutive number one album on the Billboard 200, remaining there for four non-consecutive weeks. I've Never Been to Me was one of the best-selling releases of 1977, spawning a whopping six top-tens on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Flying High", "Love Is Alive', "Car of Love" and "I've Never Been to Me". The release of the album made Wilson the only act have five album to produced five or more Hot 100 number ones, as well as accumulating 16 number ones on the chart, from 1974-1977. I've Never Been to Me has sold over 30 million copies worldwide, as of 2020.

1978-1983: Transition to disco, Life, Love And Harmony and moderate successes
She renewed her contract with Capitol Records in the late 1970s and in an attempt to broaden her appeal she cut the album Life, Love and Harmony, an album of soulful, funky dance cuts that included the track "Sunshine", which was to become one of her most sought-after recordings (albeit among supporters of the rare soul scene with whom she would not usually register). The also also included her biggest single to date In 1977 she recorded the theme song for The Last Dinosaur, a made-for-TV movie which opened in theaters in Japan. An undated photo of Wilson from the National Archives of Brazil. In the 1980s, she recorded five albums for Japanese labels because she preferred recording live, and American labels frequently did not give her that option. She gained such wide popularity that she was selected as the winner of the annual Tokyo Song Festivals.[6]

In 1982, Wilson recorded with Hank Jones and the Great Jazz Trio. In that same year she recorded with the Griffith Park Band whose members included Chick Corea and Joe Henderson. In 1987 she participated in a PBS show entitled Newport Jazz '87 as the singer of a jazz trio with John Williams and Roy McCurdy.[9] In 1982, she also signed with CBS, her albums here including The Two of Us (1984), duets with Ramsey Lewis produced by Stanley Clarke; Forbidden Lover (1987), including the title-track duet with Carl Anderson; and A Lady with a Song, which became her 52nd album release in 1989. In 1989, Nancy Wilson in Concert played as a television special.[6] In the early 1990s, Wilson recorded an album paying tribute to Johnny Mercer with co-producer Barry Manilow entitled With My Lover Beside Me. In this decade she also recorded two other albums, Love, Nancy and her sixtieth album If I Had it My Way.[6] In the late 1990s, she teamed up with MCG Jazz, a youth-education program of the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild,[14] nonprofit, minority-directed, arts and learning organization located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

In 1995, Wilson performed at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the San Francisco Jazz Festival in 1997.[9] In 1999, she hosted a show in honor of Ella Fitzgerald entitled Forever Ella on the A & E Network.[6] All the proceeds from 2001's A Nancy Wilson Christmas went to support the work of MCG Jazz.[15] Wilson was the host on NPR's Jazz Profiles,[16] from 1996 to 2005. This series profiled the legends and legacy of jazz through music, interviews and commentary. Wilson and the program were the recipients of the George Foster Peabody Award in 2001.[17] Wilson's second and third album with MCG Jazz, R.S.V.P. (Rare Songs, Very Personal) (2005), and Turned to Blue (2007), both won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album. On September 10, 2011, she performed on a public stage for the last time at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. According to Wilson, "I'm not going to be doing it anymore, and what better place to end it than where I started – in Ohio."[18]

Film and Television
Wilson eventually got her own series on NBC, The Nancy Wilson Show (1967–1968), which won an Emmy.[6] Over the years she appeared on many popular television shows from I Spy (more or less playing herself as a Las Vegas singer in the 1966 episode "Lori", and a similar character in the 1973 episode "The Confession" of The F.B.I.[12]), Room 222, Hawaii Five-O, Police Story, The Jack Paar Program, The Sammy Davis Jr. Show (1966), The Danny Kaye Show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Kraft Music Hall, The Sinbad Show,[6] The Cosby Show, The Andy Williams Show, The Carol Burnett Show, Soul Food, New York Undercover, and recently Moesha, and The Parkers.[10][13] She also appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Merv Griffin Show, The Tonight Show, The Arsenio Hall Show and The Flip Wilson Show.[6] She was in the 1993 Robert Townsend's The Meteor Man and in the film, The Big Score. She also appeared on The Lou Rawls Parade of Stars and the March of Dimes Telethon.[6]

Musical and performance style
Often described as one of the most versatile artists of her generation, Wilson initially began her career singing jazz and traditional pop standards, her producer being David Cavanaugh is most of her earlier work, until 1973. Wilson despised being put into a particular music category, stating that in a 1992 interview with Essence Magazine, "I didn’t know I was a ‘Black artist’ until I was nominated for a Grammy in a Black category." She eventually shifted towards a R&B and soul-influenced sounds by the late 1960s. After the 13 -year partnership, with Cavanaugh, Billy and Gene Page produced most of Wilson's blockbuster albums in the mid-1970s, besides Eugene McDaniel's, producer of This Mother's Daughter. During the 1970s, Wilson was her most experimental, exploring genres such as jazz fusion, disco, funk, Philadephia soul, and blues. Despite Wilson's successes in the 1970s and 80s, many were critical of her incorporation of the then emerging genres in her works. Numerous critics during this period, stated that Wilson was trying to sound too "hip" and "trendy", some even going as far as calling her "sell out."

Wilson was also known for turning already existing songs into her own, giving them a completely new sound and structure. This is evident her albums, A Touch Of Today and All in Love Is Fair. Though not much of a songwriter, Wilson has co-written a few of her songs, such as her hit "Tell The Truth" (1975). For most of her live performances, Wilson preferred to sing live. However, this would become an issue later in her later career, when singing hits that had more technical enhancements. Wilson was also known for her "dramatic" and "expressive" delivery in many live performances.

Vocal style and influences
Wilson possessed a lyric mezzo-soprano vocal range throughout her career. Many critics have described her voice to be "velvety", "rich", and "warm". Wilson was known for her ‘vocal gymnastics’, in reference to her impeccable agility. She had the ability to change the tone of her voice from ‘sweet and gentle’ to ‘booming and passionate’. Her 'intentional' deep breaths were huge characteristic of her style as well. These attributes often led to critics to compare her to Barbra Streisand. She has listed Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington, and Jimmy Scott as major musical influences.

Awards and honors
Wilson, 1997.In 1964, Wilson won her first Grammy Award for the best rhythm and blues recording for the album How Glad I Am, becoming the first artist to ever win the category. She was featured as a "grand diva" of jazz in a 1992 edition of Essence.[19] In the same year, she also received the Whitney Young Jr. Award from the Urban League. In 1998, she was a recipient of the Playboy Reader Poll Award for best jazz vocalist.[6]

In 1986, she was dubbed the Global Entertainer of the Year by the World Conference of Mayors. She received an award from the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in 1993; the NAACP Image Award – Hall of Fame Award in 1998, and was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1999. She received the Trumpet Award for Outstanding Achievement in 1994.[19] Wilson received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1990, at 6541 Hollywood Blvd.[20] She received honorary degrees from Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA and Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. Wilson has a street named after her in her hometown of Chillicothe, Ohio. She co-founded the Nancy Wilson Foundation, which exposes inner-city children to the country.[19] Wilson was the recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships award in 2004, the highest honors that the United States government bestows upon jazz musicians.[21] In 2005 she received the NAACP Image Awards for Best Recording Jazz Artist. She received the 2005 UNCF Trumpet Award celebrating African-American achievement, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the NAACP in Chicago, and Oprah Winfrey's Legends Award.[22]

In September 2005, Wilson was inducted into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site. Wilson was a major figure in Civil Rights Movement. Wilson noted that the ceremony gave her "one of the best ceremonies that I've ever had in my life."[23] Times.com, August 20, 2006: "It's been a long career for the polished Wilson, whose first albums appeared in the 1960s, and she faces that truth head-on in such numbers as 'These Golden Years' and 'I Don't Remember Ever Growing Up'. Shorter breathed these days, she can still summon a warm, rich sound and vividly tell a song's story. With a big band behind her in 'Taking a Chance on Love', she also shows there's plenty of fire in her autumnal mood".[24] At the Hollywood Bowl, August 29, 2007, Wilson celebrated her 70th birthday with an all-star event hosted by Arsenio Hall. Ramsey Lewis and his trio performed "To Know Her Is To Love Her".

Personal life and death
Wilson married her first husband, drummer Kenny Dennis, in 1960. They had a son Kenneth ("Kacy") Dennis Jr., but by 1970 they divorced[25]. On May 22, 1973, Wilson married a Presbyterian minister, Reverend Wiley Burton, within a month of meeting.[26] She gave birth to Samantha Burton in 1975, and the couple adopted Sheryl Burton in 1976. As a result of her marriage, she abstained from performing in various venues, such as supper clubs. For the following two decades, she successfully juggled her personal life and her career. In November 1998, both of her parents died; she called this year the most difficult of her life.[6]

In August 2006, Wilson was hospitalized with anemia and potassium deficiency, and was on I.V. sustenance while undergoing a complete battery of tests. She was unable to attend the UNCF Evening of Stars Tribute to Aretha Franklin and had to cancel the engagement. All of her other engagements were on hold pending doctors' reports.[27][28]

In March 2008, she was hospitalized for lung complications, recovered, and reported to be doing well.[29][28] In the same year, her husband, Wiley Burton, died after suffering from renal cancer.[30] On December 13, 2018, Wilson died at her home in Pioneertown, California.[31] She was 81 years old.[32]

Legacy and influence
Wilson was referred to numerous nicknames throughout her six-decade long career, including "The Girl With The Honey Coated Voice", however she preferred the title "Song Stylist". Some sources even stated Wilson to be 'The Original Queen of Pop", Queen of Jazz and Queen of R&B. Wilson's longevity and consistency have been lauded throughout her career. She has been listed as "the most successful artist in Billboard history", breaking numerous records and setting milestones. Many sources have listed her as the "best-selling solo artist of the 1960s and 70s and "the most successful artist of 20th century". Wilson is often credited for opening doors for R&B and jazz artists expanding the genres to a global scale.

Wilson has accumulated 33 Billboard Hot 100 number one singles and 66 top-ten hits, the most number ones and top-tens for any artist on the chart, and has accumulated over 250 entries on the Hot 100, more than any other act. Wilson is the only act to have five albums that produced five or more Hot 100 top-tens each, the only artist to accumulate the most number one singles in a three year span (17) record for most consecutive top-ten hits (27), from 1974-77, and she is the only artist to have two albums to produce five or more number one singles. Her biggest single, “Life, Love And Harmony” is the number-one single of All-Time chart. On the Billboard 200, Wilson has the most-weeks spent on the charts and is the only solo woman artist to have an album peak at number one for more than 30 weeks. Her compilation album, Anthology, is the best-selling compilation album by a solo artist selling over 32 million copies worldwide. In terms of record sales, Wilson's stats have varied over the years, estimates ranging from 750 million to over a billion records sold. With these claims, many sources state Wilson as the "world's best selling-artist", with some stating Wilson to be the "best-selling artist, next Elvis and The Beatles". Wilson is the highest-certified artist in the United States, by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with over 360.5 million units alone. She has 11 Diamond-certified albums, the most for any artist and is the only woman artist to have single from 20th century to be certified Diamond by the RIAA. Wilson is the one of three artists and the only woman artist to have an album to be certified over 30x platinum. In other nations, such as Germany and Japan, Wilson is the highest certified western artist respectively.

Wilson's music and her image have had a substantial impact on pop culture, being impersonated by many comedians over the years and often referenced in numerous films and television shows. She has often been cited as one of the key influences for breaking down racial and gender barriers in a time where black women weren't given much opportunities. Wilson was one of the first artists to be open about taking control over her career. Her longtime label, Capitol Records allowed Wilson many creative freedoms, from experimenting with numerous genres and musical themes, including social issues, romance, motherhood and sexuality. Numerous critics often describe Wilson's works, A Touch of Today (1966), Easy (1968), Now I'm a Woman (1970), All in Love Is Fair (1974), Come Get to This (1975), This Mother's Daughter (1976) and I've Never Been to Me (1977) to be her most influential to date. Rolling Stone once stated "Wilson truly is the reason why black acts, such as Michael Jackson, Prince, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston and Anita Baker all had flourishing careers."

In 2006, a monument of Wilson was constructed in Tokyo, Japan. Wilson received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1990 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. In 1993, Wilson was honored with a Grammy Legend Award. Wilson was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004, being the first woman inducted. Artists who've cited Wilson as an influence includes Aretha Franklin, Ariana Grande, Beyonce, Brandy, Demi Lovato, Diana Ross, John Legend, Kylie Minogue, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Patti LaBelle, Anita Baker, and Nnenna Freelon, who once said "She has such a classy sound, but she's never afraid to be a woman, or to tell it like it is.".

Grammy history

 * Career Wins: 3[33]
 * Career Nominations: 7 (Note: In a 2007 interview, Wilson stated that she had been nominated more than 20 times.[34] The Grammy Awards web site lists her with seven nominations.

Discography
Main article: Nancy Wilson discography

Nancy Wilson core discography

DVD concert films

 * Nancy Wilson at Carnegie Hall (2001)[35]
 * Great Women Singers of the 20th Century – Nancy Wilson (2005)[36]