Carol Sloane was a jazz singer who had a burgeoning career in the 1950s and ‘60s before rock became the dominant style of popular music.
- Died: January 23, 2023 (Who else died on January 23?)
- Details of death: Died at a senior care center in Stoneham, Massachusetts of complications from a stroke at the age of 85.
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Musical career
Sloane began singing in nightclubs in the late 1950s before giving a lauded performance at the 1961 Newport Jazz Festival. That performance was her breakthrough, bringing her widespread attention, but it came at an unfortunate time in music history. Audiences were moving on from jazz to focus on rock and roll. Sloane released just two albums in the early 1960s, “Live at 30th Street” and “Out of the Blue,” before her early career began to wane. By the mid-‘60s, she had been dropped from her record label, and the live gigs had begun to dry up. Sloane largely left the music business, working as a legal secretary in the 1970s. But after a period of financial struggle, she made a comeback with the 1989 album “Love You Madly.” It was well received, and Sloane continued to record for many years, most recently releasing “Live at Birdland” in 2022.
Sloane on the music she loved as a child
“The radio provided me with a voice. I could hear singers and follow what they were doing without distraction. Eventually, of course, there were faces and bodies to go with those voices. But in the early 1950s, radio and records were it. I listened all the time to two local disc jockeys. One focused on rhythm and blues and the other on jazz and singers. These radio guys became my heroes.” —from a 2009 interview for JazzWax
Tributes to Carol Sloane
Full obituary: The Washington Post
