Margaret Tynes

Margaret Tynes by Carl Van Vechten, 1959,  Margaret Tynes had a phenomenal international career as a singer in opera, jazz and theater for over fifty years. A graduate of North Carolina A&T State University (BA 1939) and Columbia University (MA 1944), she starred as Harry Belafonte’s leading lady off-Broadway in a show he produced called Sing Man, Sing! She also recorded a jazz suite called A Drum is a Woman with Duke Ellington and made several appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Source: lipstickalley | Carl Van Vechten, photographer | 

Asmahan

Amal al-Atrash (25 November 1917 – 14 July 1944) ,better known by her stage name Asmahan (أسمهان Asmahān), was a Syrian Druze singer and actress. Having immigrated to Egypt in childhood, her family knew the composer Dawood Hosni, and she sang the compositions of Mohamed El Qasabgi and Zakariyya Ahmad. She also sang the compositions of Mohammed Abdel Wahab and her brother Farid al-Atrash, a then rising star musician in his own right. Hers was the only female voice in Arab music to pose serious competition to that of Umm Kulthum, who is considered to be one of the Arab world's most distinguished singers of the 20th century. 

Source: shemoonchild | wikipedia

Roy Orbison

Roy Kelton Orbison, (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer-songwriter, best known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Roy Orbison formed his first band at age 13. The singer-songwriter dropped out of college to pursue music. He signed with Monument Records and recorded such ballads as "Only the Lonely" and "It's Over." Orbison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Nearly one year later, in December 1988, he died of a heart attack.

Source: biography | bandweblogs

Alberta Hunter

Alberta Hunter (April 1, 1895 – October 17, 1984) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and nurse. Her career had started back in the early 1920s, and from there on, she became a successful jazz and blues recording artist, being critically acclaimed to the ranks of Ethel Waters and Bessie Smith. In the 1950s, she retired from performing and entered the medical field, only to successfully resume her singing career in her 80s.

Source: google | wikipedia

Della Fox

Such a cute costume. Della May Fox (October 13, 1870 - June 15, 1913) was an American singing comedienne, whose popularity peaked in the 1890s when the diminutive Fox appeared opposite the very tall De Wolf Hopper in several musicals. She also toured successfully with her own company.

Source: wikimedia

Shirley Bassey

Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey, DBE (born 8 January 1937) was born in Tiger Bay, Cardiff, Wales, and raised in the nearby working class neighborhood of Splott.  Bassey, is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the mid-1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century.

Source: lucywho | google

Adelaide Hall

Adelaide Hall (1929)

Adelaide Louise Hall (20 October 1901 – 7 November 1993) Adelaide was born in Brooklyn, New York to Elizabeth and Arthur William Hall and was taught to sing by her father. She made her show business debut in a number of black musical shows in New York, including “Shuffle Along,” “Chocolate Kiddies,” “Desires Of 1927,” and “Black Birds of 1928.”

Source: aaregistry | vintageblackfolk |

African American Heritage

Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer. Nicknamed "The Empress of the Blues", Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s.

Source: vintageblack2 | google

Teresa Carreño

Maria Teresa Carreño Garcia de Sena (December 22, 1853 – June 12, 1917) was a Venezuelan pianist, singer, composer, and conductor. -vintage

Source: pettipond | wikipedia