Grammy-Winning Jazz Singer Cassandra Wilson Dies at 70
Two-time Grammy winner Cassandra Wilson died at her Jackson, Mississippi, home on September 1, 2026, leaving a legacy that stretched jazz across blues, folk, pop, R&B and country.
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- Two-time Grammy winner Cassandra Wilson died at her Jackson, Mississippi, home on September 1, 2026, leaving a legacy that stretched jazz across blues, folk, pop, R&B and country.
Cassandra Wilson, the Grammy-winning jazz singer whose deep contralto and genre-spanning work reshaped contemporary vocal jazz, died at her home in Jackson, Mississippi, on Tuesday, September 1, 2026. She was 70.
Hinds County Coroner Jeramiah Howard confirmed the death. A statement from Wilson’s manager said she died peacefully at home with family, close friends and her manager present. No cause of death was given in the source report.
Born and raised in Jackson, Wilson began piano lessons at age six and later played clarinet in marching bands. After studying at Millsaps College and Jackson State University, she worked with musicians in New Orleans before moving to New York, where she became a prominent vocalist in saxophonist Steve Coleman’s M-Base Collective.
Wilson’s music drew from blues-based jazz while also incorporating folk, pop, R&B and country. She received four Grammy nominations and won best jazz vocal album twice: for “New Moon Daughter” in 1997 and “Loverly” in 2009.
Her final album, “Coming Forth by Day,” was released in 2015 as a tribute to Billie Holiday. In 2022, the National Endowment for the Arts named Wilson an NEA Jazz Master, among the leading honors in American jazz.
Musician Jon Batiste remembered Wilson’s Mississippi-rooted sound and her influence across musical traditions. Jackson Mayor John Horhn said the city had lost an extraordinary native daughter and the world a distinctive musical voice.
