A polymath and fearless voyager, explorer, pioneer and keeper of tradition, the three-time Grammy-winner recently won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album for Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee.

Her first professional experience as a member of the legendary Thad Jones/Mel Louis Big Band, and throughout the 70s she performed with such jazz notables as Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon and Dizzy Gillespie.

Bridgrwater began self-producing with her 1993 album Keeping Tradition (Polydor/Verve) and created DDB Records in 2006. Releasing a series of critically acclaimed CDs, including her wildly successful double Grammy Award-winning tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, Dear Ella.

Bridgewater also pursued a parallel career in musical theater, winning a Tony Award for her role as “Glinda” in The Wiz in 1975. Having recently completed a run as the lead role of Billie Holiday in the off-Broadway production of Lady Day, her other theatrical credits include Sophisticated Ladies, Black Ballad, Carmen, Cabaret and the Off-Broadway and West End Productions of Lady Day, for which Bridgewater received the British Laurence Olivier Nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. She also hosted the long-running syndicated NPR radio program JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater.

In 2018, Bridgwater received the prestigious Doris Duke Artist Award. 2019 brought her introduction in the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in recognition of her contributions to music and in celebration of her latest CD, Memphis, Yes…I’m Ready.

In recognition of her unparalleled contributions to the jazz field, Wayne State University has created The Dee Dee Bridgewater Club in her honor.