Joe Williams, one of the premier jazz, blues, and ballad singers of the modern era, died Monday in Las Vegas. He was 80. Earlier in the day, Williams had dressed himself and walked out of a hospital where he was being treated for a respiratory ailment; he went nearly three miles on foot, then collapsed on the street a few blocks from his home. He died of natural causes, according to Ron Flud, coroner of Clark County, Nev.
Williams, who found stardom in the '50s via a long stint with the Count Basie Orchestra, blossomed into a world-famous balladeer in the following decades. He performed alongside every great jazz artist of the past half century, including Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Lena Horne, and Sarah Vaughan; he also influenced a generation of singers with his precise diction and soulful, burnt-sienna voice.
Williams was awarded the NARAS Governors Award in 1983 and won two Grammys, for best male jazz vocalist in 1984 and 1985. His most recent Telarc album, "Feel The Spirit," was released in 1995.
Williams, who found stardom in the '50s via a long stint with the Count Basie Orchestra, blossomed into a world-famous balladeer in the following decades. He performed alongside every great jazz artist of the past half century, including Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Lena Horne, and Sarah Vaughan; he also influenced a generation of singers with his precise diction and soulful, burnt-sienna voice.
Williams was awarded the NARAS Governors Award in 1983 and won two Grammys, for best male jazz vocalist in 1984 and 1985. His most recent Telarc album, "Feel The Spirit," was released in 1995.
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