Donna Hightower

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Donna Hightower (1964)
Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
This World Today Is A Mess
  DE 24 07/16/1973 (17 weeks)
  AT 16 09/15/1973 (12 weeks)
  CH 4th 09/26/1973 (16 weeks)

Donna Hightower (born December 28, 1926 in Cathersville , Missouri , † August 19, 2013 in Austin , Texas ) was an American singer of jazz and pop music . The highlight of her career was probably her hit This World Today is a Mess from 1971. In 1974 she also made a guest appearance on the ZDF television series Der Kommissar .

Life

Hightower grew up in Los Angeles and was shaped by gospel music before turning to jazz under the influence of Dinah Washington . She has two children from her marriage to a soldier. After the divorce, she worked as a cook in Chicago, where she was discovered by chance in 1951, sang with Horace Henderson and recorded her first single (as a rhythm and blues number) with I Ain't in the Mood . In 1955 she performed at the Apollo Theater in New York City and toured the South with BB King and Johnny Guitar Watson . In 1958 she recorded her first album Take One . The next year she moved to Europe because of the poor performance opportunities, where she first worked from London . She sang with Ted Heath , then in Paris with Quincy Jones and the Platters , performed at festivals, toured with Johnny Hallyday and recorded a French version of My Boy Lollipop , which became a hit in Canada. She made guest appearances in other European countries and performed with Heinz von Hermann's band before moving to Madrid , where she stayed until 1969 and worked in jazz clubs , for example with Tete Montoliu and Rudi Fuesers .

From 1970 she turned more to pop music, also sang in Spanish (single Soy feliz ) and shortly afterwards appeared with Danny Daniel as "Danny y Donna" to record El vals de las mariposas together, which became a hit in Spain. She was also internationally successful with This World Today is a Mess (1971, two gold records), Here I Am (1973) and I'm in Love with Love (1974). In 1974 she had a guest appearance in the 76th episode (His last coup) of the German crime series Der Kommissar . In 1991 she returned to the United States where she worked as a fundraiser . Further recordings were made with the "Monster Big Band". In 2006 she performed at the “Via Jazz” festival in Madrid.

In 2008 she recorded the song Handsfree (If You Hold My Hand) with Sonny J , which appeared on the album Disastro . The single reached # 77 in the UK Top 40 .

Web links

Commons : Donna Hightower  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH
  2. ↑ Singer / songwriter Donna Hightower dies in Austin ( Memento of the original from January 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.khou.com
  3. ↑ She commented on John Lee Hooker's hit I'm in the Mood, with which he expresses his desire for a woman.
  4. ↑ Pop Justice
personal data
SURNAME Hightower, Donna
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz and pop music singer
DATE OF BIRTH December 28, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Cathersville , Missouri , United States
DATE OF DEATH 19th of August 2013
Place of death Austin , Texas , United States