Mabel Mercer: Extraordinary and Unforgettable

Jazz singer Mabel Mercer was born in Staffordshire, England but performed in cabarets in the United States and Europe most of her professional career. Mabel was born February 3, 1900. She sang at the most important clubs in Paris, such as Chez Bricktop and Le Ruban Bleu. She attended a convent school in Manchester, but left it when she was fourteen.

Due to World War II, she had to travel to the United States and performed in the best New York City clubs. She has been awarded many a time; in 1984 the Stereo Review Magazine renamed the award for merit with the name of Mabel Mercer Award because she was the first one to be granted with it and of course because of her quality and her “contributions to the American musical life".

After a long absence of forty-one years, Mabel returned to the scenarios on July 1977. The BBC in England taped her three presentations and then broadcasted them for a week. One of her most acclaimed albums was called “Midnight at Mabel Mercer’s” released in 1978. She received many honors and awards; one of them was the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is the maximum medal someone in the United States could be given. She was granted this prize in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan. Mabel Mercer passed away on April 20, 1984.