Annie Ross, Jazz Singer Turned Actor, Dies in New York

Portrait of Jazz singer Annie Ross as she poses in her Manhattan apartment, New York, New York, September 27, 2005. The picture was taken as part of a portrait session for Downbeat Magazine. (Photo by Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images)
Portrait of Jazz singer Annie Ross as she poses in her Manhattan apartment, New York, New York, September 27, 2005. The picture was taken as part of a portrait session for Downbeat Magazine. (Photo by Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images)
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Annie Ross, Jazz Singer Turned Actor, Dies in New York

Portrait of Jazz singer Annie Ross as she poses in her Manhattan apartment, New York, New York, September 27, 2005. The picture was taken as part of a portrait session for Downbeat Magazine. (Photo by Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images)
Portrait of Jazz singer Annie Ross as she poses in her Manhattan apartment, New York, New York, September 27, 2005. The picture was taken as part of a portrait session for Downbeat Magazine. (Photo by Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images)

Annie Ross, a popular jazz singer in the 1950s before crossing over into a successful film career, has died. She was 89.

Ross’ manager, Jim Coleman, said that the entertainer died Tuesday at her home in New York, four days before her 90th birthday. She had battled emphysema and heart disease.

Ross rose to fame as the lead vocalist of one of jazz’s most well-respected groups, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. The trio became known for the 1952 hit “Twisted,” a tune by saxophonist Wardell Gray and written by Ross.

A decade later, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross went on to win a Grammy Award for the album “High Flying.”

Despite the success, Ross decided to leave the group while feuding with group member Jon Hendricks while she battled heroin addiction.

Ross eventually cleaned up her life, married English actor Sean Lynch and ran a nightclub for a short stint in London. But around 1975, she declared bankruptcy, lost her home and divorced Lynch, who soon died in a car crash.

While Ross struggled to find work as a singer, she turned her attention to acting. She appeared in plays such as “A View From the Bridge” along with the musical production “The Pirates of Penzance.”

Ross broke through as a familiar face in the 1979 film “Yanks,” which led to other roles. She appeared as a villain in “Superman III,” a writing student in “Throw Momma From the Train” and an aging jazz singer in Robert Altman’s “Short Cuts,” which helped revive her career.

Ross ultimately reinvented herself as a witty cabaret singer. Despite her transition, she received the Jazz Master honor from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2010, The Associated Press reported.

In 2014, Ross released the album “To Lady With Love,” a tribute to Billie Holiday. She often performed at the Metropolitan Room until the venue closed in 2017.



R.E.M. Delivers Surprise Performance at Songwriting Gala 

Rock band R.E.M Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe and Bill Berry attend the 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame Inductions and gala in New York City, US, June 13, 2024. (Reuters)
Rock band R.E.M Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe and Bill Berry attend the 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame Inductions and gala in New York City, US, June 13, 2024. (Reuters)
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R.E.M. Delivers Surprise Performance at Songwriting Gala 

Rock band R.E.M Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe and Bill Berry attend the 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame Inductions and gala in New York City, US, June 13, 2024. (Reuters)
Rock band R.E.M Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe and Bill Berry attend the 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame Inductions and gala in New York City, US, June 13, 2024. (Reuters)

R.E.M. performed onstage together for the first time in well over a decade Thursday, reuniting to play their classic "Losing My Religion" as they were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills broke up in 2011, and the last time all four members played onstage together -- Bill Berry left in 1997 -- was in 2007.

But entrance into the who's who of music that is the prestigious songwriting pantheon got the band back together.

"Songwriting is the very foundation of why we came together in the first place," lead vocalist Michael Stipe told AFP. "We're really proud."

The band was inducted by Jason Isbell, who performed a cover of R.E.M's "It's The End of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" at the event.

"R.E.M. was greater than the sum of its parts. R.E.M. moved like a single instrument," Isbell said.

The Songwriters Hall of Fame celebrates its inductees with a festive dinner and intimate concert instead of a televised event.

Kevin Bacon and his brother Michael -- the duo known as The Bacon Brothers -- opened the show with a foot-stomping rendition of "Footloose," the Oscar-nominated title track of the hit 1984 film of the same name.

Bacon starred in the movie -- but Dean Pitchford wrote it and much of its music, and was among the elite group inducted Thursday.

The writer of many hit films and musical tracks, Pitchford thanked the adoring audience "for hearing all these years, and above all, thank you for listening to me."

Trey Anastasio of Phish inducted Steely Dan, while chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame Nile Rodgers -- the beloved co-founder of Chic -- bestowed SZA with a special award for songwriters "at an apex in their careers."

It's "just beyond all of my wildest dreams," SZA said, before performing an acoustic rendition of "Snooze."

Rodgers took his moment onstage to emphasize that "there would be no music industry if there were no songs," specifically calling out streaming platform Spotify to "acknowledge and make a point of songwriters being your priority."

- Hip hop, country, and Oscar royalty -

None other than Missy Elliott had the crowd on its feet as she inducted Timbaland into the coveted class.

"In hip hop, there was certain ways that hip hop music sounds -- Timbaland... literally changed the cadence," she said, adding that the producer, rapper and singer whose hits include "Give It To Me" was a master at marrying sensibilities of rap and R&B.

"Thank you for giving me a seat at the table," Timbaland said in a lengthy acceptance speech, before conducting a house band through a medley of his hits and those he produced for the likes of Elliott, Justin Timberlake and Beyonce.

Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban performed in honor of Hillary Lindsey, a Nashville songwriting star who's written for artists including Lady Gaga, Bon Jovi, Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Shakira.

And Diane Warren -- the songwriter who's earned 15 Oscar nominations, including for "Because You Loved Me" performed by Celine Dion and Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" -- received the night's highest honor, the Johnny Mercer award.

She, like all of the inductees, said being honored by her peers was particularly special.

"It's songwriters -- what's cooler than that?" she said.