LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Nancy Wilson: Years
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In 1956, Wilson joined saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderly for an impromptu jam, an unplanned meeting that started a longtime friendship and admiration that helped launch both their careers. Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderly was released in 1962, and earned Wilson a permanent star in the jazz constellation. Her first truly major hit, "Tell Me The Truth," followed in 1963, leading up to her 1964 performance at the Cocoanut Grove that garnered critical acclaim from coast to coast. Wilson spent many years with Capitol Records, during which she was second in sales only to the Beatles, surpassing even Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, the Beach Boys, and early idol Nat King Cole. Most recently, Wilson's 2005 release, R.S.V.P. (Rare Songs, Very Personal), and her 2006 release, Turned to Blue, each received a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album.
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This year's program will feature award-winning singers Yolanda Adams, Anita Baker, Macy Gray, Heather Headley, Chris Isaak, John Legend, Kenny Lattimore, Chante Moore, Ne-Yo, Joss Stone, Nancy Wilson and Stevie Wonder. Presenters will include Tichina Arnold and Tyler James Williams from Everybody Hates Chris; former Saturday Night Live actor-comedian Jimmy Fallon; Hill Harper from CSI-NY; Taraji P. Henson from Hustle and Flow; LisaRaye McCoy-Misick from All of Us; Shemar Moore from Criminal Minds; Kimberly Elise from Close to Home and The Great Debaters; syndicated radio host and HBCU fundraiser, Tom Joyner; Shaun Robinson, co-host of Access Hollywood, and NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Special taped appearances include Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, and Martha Reeves. Motown Records founder and music industry icon, Berry Gordy will present the Award of Excellence to Smokey Robinson. Five-time Emmy Award winner, Louis J. Horvitz is executive producer and director of An Evening of Stars(R).
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NANCY WILSON's professional singing career began at the age of 15. She had her own television show, Skyline Melody, on a local station. Soon after, she began performing in clubs in the Columbus area. In 1956, she joined The Rusty Bryant Band. That same year she met Julian "Cannonball" Adderley when she accompanied Bryant's band to New York City for a recording session. Adderley, impressed with her talent and determination, took an immediate interest in her career and the two kept in touch.
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Wilson is among the best known in a second wave of vocal performers who followed in the footsteps of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughn. Like those singers, she has enjoyed a long period of success before live audiences in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Wilson has ... been a featured guest star on numerous television variety shows and specials, her popularity remaining constant through the decades. An Ebony correspondent concluded that she is "one of the great distinctive voices, a singer whose words are never less than crystal clear, and whose head, heart, and soul always seem totally enmeshed in her songs.... For 35 years the exquisite, melting voice has ranged across the music landscape, from small jazz clubs to the main dining rooms of the casinos of Las Vegas, from America to Japan."
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Performing for almost 50 years, Nancy Wilson has graced almost every facet of the entertainment industry — from recording, acting, hosting the nationally syndicated NPR program Jazz Profiles, to her work as spokesperson for several humanitarian efforts. Her touch is unmistakable.
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Nancy Wilson says she is "a lady with a song." And the sophisticated song-stylist has been singing her songs for an amazing 50 years. She celebrates her anniversary in music with the...(Continue Reading)
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