Jo Stafford

An almost breathtakingly versatile singer, Jo Stafford rose to prominence as a member of the vocal group the Pied Pipers, with whom she made some of the most memorable recordings of the WWII era, but left in 1944 for a solo career. Her sultry, soulful jazz voice, one to rival Ella Fitzgerald’s, lent itself expertly to the songbook pop of the 1940s. Stafford’s contributions to comedy in the ‘50s & ‘60s, with husband Paul Weston, cannot be overlooked; under the name Jonathan & Darlene, the pair created humor in an innovative Ernie Kovacs style as Weston speeded up suddenly and Stafford sang off-key, often stumbling over the lyrics. Stafford retired from music entirely in 1975, coming out of hermitage for one appearance (to honor Frank Sinatra) before her death in 2008 at 90.