Which jazz singer was known as “The Divine One”?

Sarah Vaughan was known as “The Divine One.”

The nickname reflected the extraordinary range, control, and richness of Vaughan’s voice. She was also called “Sassy” or “Sass,” but “The Divine One” became the most distinctive formal epithet associated with her career.

Vaughan began singing professionally after winning an amateur contest at Harlem’s Apollo Theater in 1942. She soon worked with Earl Hines and Billy Eckstine, environments that connected her with the emerging bebop generation. Her later recordings combined jazz improvisation with sophisticated ballad singing.

Vaughan is sometimes grouped simply with Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday as one of the great female jazz singers, but their styles were different. Vaughan was especially celebrated for her wide vocal range, harmonic sophistication, and ability to move between swing, bebop, and orchestral settings.