Eva Cassidy

Eva Cassidy
Cassidy in 1988
Cassidy in 1988
Background information
Birth nameEva Marie Cassidy
Born(1963-02-02)February 2, 1963
Washington, D.C., U.S.
DiedNovember 2, 1996(1996-11-02) (aged 33)
Bowie, Maryland, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • musician
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • piano
Years active1981–1996
Labels

Eva Marie Cassidy (February 2, 1963 – November 2, 1996) was an American singer and musician known for her interpretations of jazz, folk, and blues music, sung with a powerful, emotive soprano voice. In 1992, she released her first album, The Other Side, a set of duets with go-go musician Chuck Brown, followed by the 1996 live solo album titled Live at Blues Alley. Although she had been honored by the Washington Area Music Association, she was virtually unknown outside her native Washington, D.C., at the time of her death from melanoma at the age of 33 in 1996.

Two years after her death, Cassidy's music was brought to the attention of British audiences, when her versions of "Fields of Gold" and "Over the Rainbow" were played by Mike Harding and Terry Wogan on BBC Radio 2. Following the overwhelming response, a camcorder recording of "Over the Rainbow", taken at Blues Alley in Washington by her friend Bryan McCulley, was shown on BBC Two's Top of the Pops 2. Shortly afterwards, the compilation album Songbird climbed to the top of the UK Albums Chart, almost three years after its initial release. The chart success in the United Kingdom and Ireland led to increased recognition of Cassidy worldwide. Her posthumously released recordings, including three number-one albums and one number-one single in the UK, have sold more than ten million copies.[1] Her music has also charted within the top 10 in Australia, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.[2]

In total, nine posthumous albums have been released. The most recent, I Can Only Be Me, a collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra, was released in 2023 and charted at number 9 on the UK album chart.

  1. ^ "Blix Stree Records Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Eva Cassidy's 'Songbird' CD Reaching number 1 on U.K. Music Chart with Gold Certification of New 'Simply Eva' Acoustic CD". AltSounds.com. Archived from the original on March 25, 2011. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference wordmag was invoked but never defined (see the help page).