Alberta Hunter

The blues singer Alberta Hunter, b. Memphis, Tenn., Apr. 1, 1895, d. Oct. 18, 1984, gave up a highly successful singing and acting career in 1957 to become a nurse, practiced that career for 20 years, and in 1977, at the age of 82, made a remarkable musical comeback. Singing professionally by the age of 12, she began (1921) recording with top instrumentalists, such as Sidney Bechet and Louis Armstrong, and became the first Black singer to record with a white band.

Hunter wrote the first hit song by Bessie Smith, "Downhearted Blues" (1923), and was chosen to replace Smith in the Broadway musical comedy How Come? (1923). She spent the 1930s in Europe as a singer and actress, where she performed in the London production of Show Boat (1928). During the late 1930s and early 1940s, she sang in New York City nightclubs and was regularly featured on an NBC radio show.

During World War II she entertained extensively on USO tours. After the death of her mother, Hunter gave up her singing career and worked (1957-77) as a nurse in a New York hospital. After her enforced retirement in 1977, she performed at a Greenwich Village nightclub. Among her later compositions was the blues tune "I Want a Two-Fisted, Double-Jointed, Rough and Ready Man."

Bibliography: Schuller, Gunther, The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930-1945 (1989); Taylor, Frank C., and Cook, Gerald, Alberta Hunter: A Celebration in Blues (1987).