Ella Fitzgerald, the immensely popular American jazz and song vocalist known as "Lady Ella" and the "First Lady of Song", died at her home in Beverly Hills from a stroke on this date in 1996.
She was 79 years old.
During a five-decade career, Fitzgerald won 13 Grammy Awards.
In her lifetime, she recorded 250 albums and some 2000 songs. She sold over 40 million albums.
"Lady Ella" was virtually bedridden with complications of diabetes.
With her diabetes worsening, Fitzgerald experienced severe circulatory problems, and had to have both legs amputated below the knees. She never fully recovered from the surgery and was rarely able to perform.
Ella Fitzgerald was interred in the Sunset Mission Mausoleum at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.