Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Roch� was an American blues singer who became most famous with her cover of the song "Take the "A" Train". She recorded with the Savoy Sultans, Hot Lips Page, Duke Ellington, Charles Brown and Clark Terry. Roch� was born in Wilmington, Delaware, United States. She settled in New York in 1939, started her career by winning an Apollo Theater amateur talent contest, sang with the Savoy Sultans from 1941 to 1942, then with Duke Ellington in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1953, she left the Ellington band and settled in San Diego, California. In 1960, she went back to New York and recorded for Prestige. Roch� died in February 1999, aged 79. [More at Wikipedia]

January 9th, 1920 in Wilmington  /  Died:   Feb 16th, 1999