Biography

Betty Carter, originally known as Lillie Mae Jones, or Lorraine Carter, was born on May 16, 1930 in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of 15, she studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory, and then began singing at the age of 16. After winning first place at her first amateur competition, she knew that she wanted to pursue music for the rest of her life. Carter was incredibly influenced by the improvisational nature of bebop and inspired by vocalists Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan, and she strove to create a style of her own. Lionel Hampton asked her to join his band in 1948; but, her insistence of improvising annoyed Hampton and prompted him to fire her seven times in two in a half years! Carter left the band for good in 1951 and performed around the country in jazz clubs like Harlem’s Apollo Theater, the Vanguard in New York, the Showboat in Philly, and the Blue Alley in Washington. She also performed with some of the greatest legends of all time, such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Muddy Waters, and Thelonious Monk, Gillespie is often considered responsible for her strong passion for scatting. In 1988 she won a Grammy for her album “Look What I Got!” and sang in a guest appearance on The Cosby Show (episode "How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?"). In 1994 she performed at the White House and was a headliner at Verve's 50th anniversary celebration in Carnegie Hall. She was the subject of a 1994 short film by Dick Fontaine, Betty Carter: New All the Time. In 1992, the National Endowment for the Arts named her a Jazz Master, and in 1997 she was awarded a National Medal of Arts by US President Bill Clinton.