Chris Connor › Similar Artists

Susannah McCorkle - 100% match to Chris Connor

1 January 1946, Berkeley, California, USA, d. 19 May 2001, New York City, New York, USA. In the late 60s, McCorkle lived for a while in Paris, France. It was during this sojourn that she heard Billie Holiday on records and decided to take up singing. Multilingual, she lived for a time in Italy, working as a translator and taking any singing jobs she could find. In 1972, she Read more

June Christy - 86% match to Chris Connor

Shirley Luster, 20 November 1925, Springfield, Illinois, USA, d. 21 June 1990, Sherman Oaks, California, USA. Christy first came to prominence with the bands of Boyd Raeburn and Stan Kenton, although her chirpy singing style sometimes sat oddly with the earnestly progressive experiments of her employers. Her bright, bubbling personality glowed through her performances and s Read more

Carmen McRae - 72% match to Chris Connor

8 April 1920, New York City, New York, USA, d. 10 November 1994, Beverly Hills, California, USA. One of the best American jazz singers, McRae was also an accomplished pianist and songwriter. Early in her career she sang with bands led by Benny Carter, Mercer Ellington, Charlie Barnet and Count Basie (sometimes under the name of Carmen Clarke, from her brief marriage to Kenny Read more

Mary Stallings - 62% match to Chris Connor

16 August 1939, San Francisco, California, USA. Stallings began singing in public at the age of eight. Encouraged by her saxophonist uncle, Orlando Stallings, she sang in local jazz clubs during her teenage years and while still in high school joined Louis Jordan’s band. She began touring, singing in other parts of the USA and also as far afield as Australia. Back in th Read more

Helen Merrill - 56% match to Chris Connor

Jelena Ana Milcetic, 21 July 1930, New York City, New York, USA. Merrill’s early career found her singing in exalted bebop company. Among the major artists with whom she sang in the late 40s were Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Bud Powell. She spent part of the 50s outside music, but continued to make a few records with notable figures such as Clifford Brown; by the end Read more

Betty Carter - 55% match to Chris Connor

Lillie Mae Jones, 16 May 1929, Flint, Michigan, USA, d. 26 September 1998, New York City, New York, USA. Growing up in Detroit, Carter sang with touring jazzmen, including Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. In her late teens, she joined Lionel Hampton, using the stage name Lorene Carter. With Hampton she enjoyed a love-hate relationship; he would regularly fire her only to Read more

Irene Kral - 51% match to Chris Connor

18 January 1932, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 15 August 1978, Encino, California, USA. Taking heed of the success of her older brother, Roy Kral, she began singing while still a teenager. She gained valuable on-the-road experience with bands led by Woody Herman and former Herman bass player Chubby Jackson before spending some time with a vocal group. In the late 50s she was wi Read more

Ernestine Anderson - 50% match to Chris Connor

11 November 1928, Houston, Texas, USA. Raised in Seattle, Anderson has been singing professionally since her mid-teens. She worked extensively with R&B bands in the 40s, including those led by Russell Jacquet and Johnny Otis. A year with Lionel Hampton in the early 50s and a Scandinavian tour with bop trumpeter Rolf Ericson broadened her repertoire, but she remained well Read more

Dorothy Dandridge - 46% match to Chris Connor

Johnny Hartman - 46% match to Chris Connor

John Maurice Hartman, 13 July 1923, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 15 September 1983, New York City, New York, USA. Having started to sing while still at school, Hartman went on to study at musical college. He became a professional following the end of the World War II and first attracted widespread attention singing with Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines in 1947 and two years later Read more

Anita O'Day - 45% match to Chris Connor

Anita Belle Colton, 18 October 1919, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 23 November 2006, West Hollywood, California, USA. As Anita Colton, in her early teens she scraped a living as a professional Walkathon contestant (marathon dancer). During this period she changed her surname to O’Day. Along with other contestants she was encouraged to sing and during one Walkathon was acco Read more

Ann Hampton Callaway - 42% match to Chris Connor

30 May 1959, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Born into a musically nurturing family, Callaway began singing from an early age encouraged especially by her mother, a vocal coach. In addition to singing, she also developed a concurrent career as a songwriter. She has worked with her sister, Liz Callaway, in particular on their original musical show, Sibling Revelry, which has been per Read more

Keely Smith - 42% match to Chris Connor

Dorothy Jaqueline Keely Smith, 9 March 1932, Norfolk, Virginia, USA. A jazzy singer most famous for her work with her husband, band leader Louis Prima. Smith made her professional debut with Prima in 1949, and the couple were married in July 1953. As well as her solo spots with the big band, she frequently duetted with Prima on stylized versions of well-known songs. In 1958, Read more

Lena Horne - 42% match to Chris Connor

Lena Mary Calhoun Horne, 30 June 1917, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. Horne is a dynamic performer, of striking appearance and elegant style. The daughter of an actress and a hotel operator, she was brought up mainly by her paternal grandmother, Cora Calhoun Horne. She made her professional debut at the age of 16 as a singer in the chorus at Harlem’s Cotton Clu Read more

Shirley Horn - 42% match to Chris Connor

1 May 1934, Washington, DC, USA, d. 20 October 2005, Cheverly, Maryland, USA. After studying piano formally, Horn continued her musical education at Howard University. She began leading her own group in the mid-50s, and in the early 60s recorded several sessions for Mercury Records, often in company with front-rank bop musicians. For some years Horn spent much of her time in Read more