Joyce Byrant, 'The Black Marilyn Monroe,' Dies at 95

Carl Van Vechten, via Wikimedia Commons

Joyce Bryant, the sultry singer whose signature silver hair and tight mermaid dresses earned her the nicknames the "Bronze Blond Bombshell" and "The Black Marilyn Monroe," is dead.

Her niece and caretaker, Robyn LaBeaud, broke the news that her aunt died at home on Nov. 20 in Los Angeles, following a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. She was 95.

"What a woman she was I will share our journey soon and please don't forget auntie she loves each and everyone of you," LaBeaud posted on Bryant's official Instagram.

Bryant was one of the most popular acts on the nightclub circuit during the 1950s, reportedly amassing $1 million in performance and recording contracts by the middle of the decade.

She was one of the country's first Black sex symbols, using radiator paint to dye her hair silver early in her career and wowing audiences with her four-octave vocal range and suggestive choreography.

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A post shared by @CaliforniaLovesFrenchies my name is Robyn (@joycebryantofficial)

At the height of her first brush with fame, the devout Seventh-day Adventist left the limelight. Feeling guilty about the sexual nature of her performances and scared of the drug dependency that had taken hold of many of her friends in entertainment, she enrolled at what is now Oakwood University, a historically Black Seventh-day Adventist institution in Huntsville, Ala.

RIP to singer Joyce Bryant, 95, who was a huge attraction in the '40s and '50s, noted for her silver hair and saucy songs. She quit in 1955 in a fit of religious fervor and discomfort over her image, but did return. Major civil rights activist. https://t.co/Id9xRvvKrB pic.twitter.com/bIkpFnx9DW

— Matthew Rettenmund (@mattrett) November 24, 2022

Bryant worked as a missionary before retraining, under the direction of Washington vocal coach Frederick Wilkerson, as a classical singer and eventually starting a career in opera. She sang the role of the female lead for the Gershwin opera "Porgy and Bess" after winning a contract with the New York City Opera. Bryan also toured internationally with Italian, French, and Vienna opera companies.

Later the torch singer would return to her roots in the 1980s to much acclaim and she subsequently began a career as a vocal instructor, with a stable of famous clients such as Jennifer Holliday and Raquel Welch.

Rest in Peace & Power, Joyce Bryant, who passed away on November 20.

Bryant was a singer, dancer & civil rights activist who achieved fame in the late 1940s & early 1950.

📷:Bryant in a gown made by the African American fashion designer Zelda Wynn Valdes.Philippe Halsman. 1954. pic.twitter.com/6MR5jj28Vd

— Black Women Radicals (@blkwomenradical) November 22, 2022

Jazz Great, Louis Armstrong, Back on Billboard Charts With Posthumous Yuletide Collection Release

Louis Armstrong is back on the charts with the release of his first-ever Christmas album, "Louis Wishes You A Cool Yule." Photo of Louis & Lucille Armstrong. Courtesy of The Louis Armstrong House Museum.

This year fans of Louis Armstrong are getting one last gift from the jazz great who passed away more than 50 years ago — a hit Christmas album.

“Louis Wishes You a Cool Yule,” a first-of-its-kind collection of yuletide songs from the "What a Wonderful World" singer has become his highest-charting work since "Hello Dolly," which spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboards Hot 100 chart in 1964 and earned him a Grammy Award for best male vocal performance.

The compilation (released Oct. 28) opened at No. 122 on the Billboard 200 album chart. It debuted in the Top 10 across multiple Billboard charts including Top Holiday Albums (No. 9), Jazz Albums (No. 4), Traditional Jazz Albums (No. 4), Top Album Sales (No. 7), Top Current Album Sales (No. 6) and Vinyl Albums (No. 7).

It is an outstanding feat for an artist that passed away in 1971, but not unexpected since the trumpeter and vocalist had been a holiday staple long before the release of an official Christmas album.

“Louis Armstrong’s first album of holiday-associated songs is an auspicious aural example of why he was a man for all seasons, singing and playing his Promethean trumpet in the cause of happiness,” said Wynton Marsalis, president of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation (LAEF), of the album's success. 

“Whether you’re seven or 70, these evergreen selections featuring the great composer/arranger Benny Carter, and the incomparable vocalists Ella Fitzgerald and Velma Middleton are illuminated by Pops’ down-home vocals. His reading of ‘The Night Before Christmas,’ with my New Orleans homeboy, Sullivan Fortner on piano, is a swinging Crescent City Christmas card. If anybody can bring joy to the world, Louis Armstrong can!”

In addition to holiday staples “White Christmas,” “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” “Winter Wonderland” and the aforementioned “What a Wonderful World,” the 11-track collection includes the previously unreleased recording “A Visit from St. Nicholas (‘Twas the Night Before Christmas).”

Recorded shortly before his death it is Armstrong’s first newly released track in over two decades.

Irene Cara, ’80s Pop Star Behind ‘Fame’ and ‘Flashdance’ Theme Songs, Dead at 63

Irene Cara

Trailblazing actress and singer Irene Cara — a former teen star who rose to international prominence in the 1980s on the strength of her performance as entertainment triple-threat Coco Hernandez in the hit movie "Fame" — has died. She was 63.

Cara's publicist, Judith Moose, shared the news on the star's official Twitter account on Saturday.

"It is with profound sadness that on behalf of her family I announce the passing of Irene Cara," Moose wrote. "The Academy Award-winning actress, singer, songwriter, and producer passed away in her Florida home."

Moose went on to say that the cause of Cara's death was currently unknown, but more information would be released when it was available and said a memorial for her fans would be "planned at a future date."

"She was a beautifully gifted soul whose legacy will live forever through her music and films," Moose continued.

The New York native was the youngest of five children. born in the Bronx on March 18, 1959, to a Black Puerto Rican father and a Cuban American mother.

Cara's entertainment career began early with her participation in the Little Miss America Pageant as a child. She began studying piano, dance and acting seriously by the age of five and her talents landed her on Spanish-language TV, where she displayed her skills as a singer and dancer.

This is the absolute worst part of being a publicist. I can't believe I've had to write this, let alone release the news. Please share your thoughts and memories of Irene. I'll be reading each and every one of them and know she'll be smiling from Heaven. She adored her fans. - JM pic.twitter.com/TsC5BwZ3fh

— Irene Cara (@Irene_Cara) November 26, 2022

In addition to putting out a Spanish-language album and an English Christmas record, she also spent time on television's "Electric Company" as a regular in the show's house band, before roles in the movies "Aaron Loves Angela" and "Sparkle" as a teen made her a star.

It was her role in the 1980 musical "Fame" about New York's High School for the Performing Arts, however, that would catapult Cara into the forefront of the world's conciseness.

Her performance earned her a Golden Globe and two Grammy nominations. Cara earned hit singles with the eponymously named title track as well as "Out Here on My Own," helping make the film's multi-platinum soundtrack reach No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The peak of her career would come three years later with the release of "Flashdance… What a Feeling." Cara co-wrote the lyrics for the title track to the Jennifer Beals-led romantic drama centered on the dance world.

For her efforts, she became the first Hispanic-Black woman to win an Oscar in a category other than an acting category, winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The smash hit also earned her a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female.