Ella JohnsonElla Johnson (June 22, 1919 – February 16, 2004)[1][2] was an American jazz and rhythm and blues singer. Music careerBorn Ella Mae Jackson in Darlington, South Carolina, United States,[2] she joined her brother Buddy Johnson in New York as a teenager,[3] where he was leading a popular band at the Savoy Ballroom. Her singing drew comparisons to Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.[1] Johnson scored her first hit with "Please, Mr. Johnson" in 1940.[4] Subsequent hits included "Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball?", "When My Man Comes Home" and "Hittin' On Me". Her popular 1945 recording of "Since I Fell for You", composed by her brother, led to its eventual establishment as a jazz standard. She continued to perform with Buddy Johnson into the 1960s. AllMusic noted that her "later solo sides for Mercury are pale imitations of her work with the band."[3] In February 2004, she died of Alzheimer's disease in New York at the age of 84.[1][3] Discography
With Buddy Johnson
References
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