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Cleo Laine, Grammy-Winning Jazz Singer With a Broadway Turn, Dies at 97
Cleo Laine, Grammy-Winning Jazz Singer With a Broadway Turn, Dies at 97
A Briton with a smoky voice, she recorded albums across six decades, toured the world and acted in “Edwin Drood.”
July 25, 2025
The singer Cleo Laine in 1973. She was known for a smoky voice that she could deploy over a four-octave range, and for her skillful scat singing. Central Press, via Getty Images
By Neil Genzlinger
July 25, 2025
Cleo Laine, one of England’s most acclaimed jazz singers and an actress who had a memorable Broadway turn as the proprietor of a London opium den in “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” died on Thursday at her home in Wavendon, England. She was 97. ... Her death was confirmed by her daughter, Jacqui Dankworth.
Ms. Laine, who was known for a smoky voice that she could deploy over a four-octave range and for her skillful scat singing, recorded numerous albums across six decades. She won a Grammy Award in 1986 for best female jazz vocal performance for “Cleo at Carnegie: The 10th Anniversary Concert.” She and her husband, the saxophonist and bandleader John Dankworth, performed all over the world and in various settings ranging from intimate nightclubs to the London Palladium.
Ms. Laine’s interests were wide ranging. She had small roles in a handful of movies, in several of which she was credited simply as “Singer.” She performed in operas, worked pop songs into her act and was drawn to the theater, especially musical theater.
Her performance as Princess Puffer in “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” based on an unfinished Charles Dickens novel and staged as a nightly murder mystery in which the audience votes on the culprit, earned her a Tony nomination in 1986 as well as a number of murder indictments.
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Ms. Laine with her husband, the saxophonist and bandleader John Dankworth, in 1979. They performed all over the world and in settings ranging from intimate nightclubs to the London Palladium. Graham Turner/Keystone, via Getty Images
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Ash Wu contributed reporting.
Neil Genzlinger is a former writer for the Obituaries desk. Previously he was a television, film and theater critic.
A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 28 of the New York edition with the headline: Cleo Laine, 97, British Jazz Singer Who Earned a Tony Nod, Is Dead. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
See more on: Grammy Awards
A Briton with a smoky voice, she recorded albums across six decades, toured the world and acted in “Edwin Drood.”
July 25, 2025
The singer Cleo Laine in 1973. She was known for a smoky voice that she could deploy over a four-octave range, and for her skillful scat singing. Central Press, via Getty Images
By Neil Genzlinger
July 25, 2025
Cleo Laine, one of England’s most acclaimed jazz singers and an actress who had a memorable Broadway turn as the proprietor of a London opium den in “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” died on Thursday at her home in Wavendon, England. She was 97. ... Her death was confirmed by her daughter, Jacqui Dankworth.
Ms. Laine, who was known for a smoky voice that she could deploy over a four-octave range and for her skillful scat singing, recorded numerous albums across six decades. She won a Grammy Award in 1986 for best female jazz vocal performance for “Cleo at Carnegie: The 10th Anniversary Concert.” She and her husband, the saxophonist and bandleader John Dankworth, performed all over the world and in various settings ranging from intimate nightclubs to the London Palladium.
Ms. Laine’s interests were wide ranging. She had small roles in a handful of movies, in several of which she was credited simply as “Singer.” She performed in operas, worked pop songs into her act and was drawn to the theater, especially musical theater.
Her performance as Princess Puffer in “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” based on an unfinished Charles Dickens novel and staged as a nightly murder mystery in which the audience votes on the culprit, earned her a Tony nomination in 1986 as well as a number of murder indictments.
{snip}
Ms. Laine with her husband, the saxophonist and bandleader John Dankworth, in 1979. They performed all over the world and in settings ranging from intimate nightclubs to the London Palladium. Graham Turner/Keystone, via Getty Images
{snip}
Ash Wu contributed reporting.
Neil Genzlinger is a former writer for the Obituaries desk. Previously he was a television, film and theater critic.
A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 28 of the New York edition with the headline: Cleo Laine, 97, British Jazz Singer Who Earned a Tony Nod, Is Dead. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
See more on: Grammy Awards