Cleo Laine, the singer whose rich, agile voice made her a global ambassador for British jazz died on Saturday at her home in Wavendon, Buckinghamshire. She was 97.

With a career spanning more than seven decades, Laine was revered for her impeccable musicianship and theatrical flair. Equally at home in jazz clubs and concert halls, she was a rare singer who could scat like Ella Fitzgerald, bring Shakespearean texts to life through song, and command the stage of Carnegie Hall.

Cleo Laine (1927 – 2025)

Born in 1927, in the London suburb of Southall, she was the daughter of a Jamaican father, Alexander Sylvan Campbell, and an English mother, Minnie. Her early exposure to music came through her father, who introduced her to jazz and Caribbean rhythms. She worked in a variety of jobs before pursuing a professional career in singing in her mid-20s.

Laine’s life and career were forever changed in 1951 when she auditioned for the British jazz bandleader and alto saxophonist John “Johnny” Dankworth. The two married in 1958 and remained devoted collaborators until Dankworth’s death in 2010.

Together, they...