Randy Crawford

Born in Georgia in 1952, singer Randy Crawford grew up in Ohio, where she launched a decades-long career by seamlessly interweaving jazz, soul and pop. A modern vocal stylist who imprinted diverse material with her powerful delivery and commanding range, she emerged on the jazz scene in the mid-'70s under the tutelage of figures like Julian “Cannonball” Adderley and Quincy Jones. But her big break came in 1979, when The Crusaders enlisted her to sing on “Street Life”, which became an international smash. She rose to even greater heights in Europe in the '80s, and a greatest-hits collection in 1996 introduced her to a new generation. Crawford continued performing her distinctive blend of jazz and R&B, occasionally reuniting with The Crusaders keyboardist Joe Sample. Her planned farewell concert in South Africa in 2018 was cancelled when she suffered a stroke that marked her retirement from performing.