New Dinah Washington Book, CD

Pantheon Books will publish a new biography of late singer Dinah Washington (pictured) on August 24. Queen: The Life and Music of Dinah Washington, was written by Nadine Cohodas, who conducted extensive interviews with Washington’s family members and pored over newly discovered documents in order to tell Washington’s story-from the singer’s discovery by vibist Lionel Hampton at 18 to her jukebox-fueled rise to fame to her death from a drug overdose at 39. Queen also includes numerous photographs.

The book will come out just prior to what would have been Washington’s 80th birthday, and will include a companion CD from Verve records titled Queen: The Music of Dinah Washington that will contain tracks from Washington’s 15 years with the Mercury label, chosen by Cohodas.

Cohodas is a Washington, D.C.-based writer who documented the rise of the Chess record label in 2000’s Spinning Blues into Gold (St. Martin’s Press), which won a Notable Book Award from the New York Times. She also wrote The Band Played Dixie: Race and the Liberal Conscience at Ole Miss (Free Press) and Strom Thurmond and the Politics of Southern Change (Simon & Schuster).

Originally Published May 25, 2004