Jo Stafford | Popular band singer, 90 Posted on July 22nd
Jo Stafford, 90, the honey-voiced band singer who starred on radio and television and sold more than 25 million records with her ballads and folk songs, died of congestive heart failure Wednesday at her Los Angeles-area home.
Ms. Stafford had 26 charted singles and nearly a dozen top 10 hits, and she also won a Grammy for best comedy album in 1960.
Her records of “I’ll Walk Alone,” “I’ll Be Seeing You,” “I Don’t Want to Walk Without You,” and other sentimental songs struck the hearts of servicemen far from home during World War II and the Korean War. They awarded her the title of “GI Jo.”
She was a “reluctant star,” her son, Tim Weston, said. “She loved making records and really didn’t crave the attention of personal appearances.”
She recorded more than 800 songs during a career that included ballads, folk, Scottish, country and novelty.
She made her last recording in 1970, although her songs continue to be used in movie sound tracks, her son said.
Her husband, arranger and conductor Paul Weston, died in 1996. - AP