African American women singers

The standards singer's solo album, Strictly Romancin', explores the ups and downs of love. Russell sings several tracks from the records during this interview and performance.

"The Empress of the Blues" gave voice the listeners' tribulations and yearnings of the 1920s and '30s. A new 10-CD box set collects the complete works of the colossus who straddled jazz and blues.

The standards singer's solo album, Strictly Romancin', explores the ups and downs of love. Russell sings several tracks from the records during this interview and performance.

In 2003, Donna Summer appeared on Fresh Air to talk about her memoir, Ordinary Girl, her hit Love to Love You Baby and her collaborator, record producer Giorgio Moroder. We remember Summer -- who died Thursday at the age of 63 -- with excerpts from that interview.

Love sang background vocals on some of the biggest hits of the 1960s, including "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Johnny Angel." On March 14, Love will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. Fresh Air honors the vocalist with excerpts from a 1988 interview.

If you've never heard of Bettye LaVette, the soul singer who belted out "A Change Is Gonna Come" with Jon Bon Jovi at the Inauguration Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial on Jan 18., you may be wondering why.

After five decades in the music business, Etta James continues to draw fans. Her signature song, "At Last" remains a favorite and soon R&B singer Beyonce will portray the singer in a new movie, "Cadillac Records."

Ronnie Spector, a member of the 1960s girl group The Ronettes, is about to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She left the music business for a number of years, before returning to recording.

Rebroadcast from Aug. 31, 1987.

Rhythm-and-blues singer Ruth Brown died last week at the age of 78 from complications following a heart attack. Brown got her start in the 1940s and influenced an entire generation of singers including Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Little Richard and Bonnie Raitt. Her hits include "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean" and "Teardrops From My Eyes." Later, she appeared in John Waters' film Hairspray and in the Broadway hit Black and Blue. She published an autobiography, Miss Rhythm, in 1996. Rhythm." This interview originally aired on Dec. 22, 1997.