Eva Cassidy

Born in Washington, D.C., in 1963, Eva Cassidy possessed a crystal-clear soprano voice of astonishing emotional resonance, performing in small acoustic venues across the Washington-Baltimore area while working as a nursery plant propagator. Unwilling to compromise her eclectic musical passions by confining herself to a single commercial pop genre, Cassidy remained largely unknown outside her local region. In early 1996, she recorded the live album Live at Blues Alley at her own expense. Tragically diagnosed with advanced melanoma, Cassidy passed away on November 2, 1996, at age 33. Years later, British radio legend Terry Wogan broadcast her haunting acoustic rendition of "Over the Rainbow" on BBC Radio 2, triggering a global sensation that drove her compilation album Songbird to #1 on the UK Albums Chart, selling over five million copies worldwide.