Jazz queen of Las Vegas
KEELY Smith was a pop and jazz singer known for her smoky- voiced recordings of jazz standards as well as her musical partnership with trumpeter- vocalist Louis Prima.
Smith was born Dorothy Jacqueline Keely and had Irish and American- Indian ancestry. She got her first paying job singing with the Earl Bennett band when she was 15.
She later auditioned to sing with Louis Prima’s band and began touring with them in 1948. She and Prima married in 1953 and together they won a Grammy for their hit That Old Black Magic in 1959. The jazz singers were the perfect foil for each other on stage with Prima’s exuberant stage presence offset by Smith’s cool- jazz credentials.
The duo were a popular lounge act in Las Vegas in the ’ 50s. Jazz fans were drawn to them, including members of the Rat Pack, with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr often joining them on stage.
She divorced Prima in 1961 and married Jimmy Bowen in 1965. Her third marriage was to singer Bobby Milano in 1975, who died in 2006.
During her seven- decade career, Smith was lauded by critics for her bold voice and ability to make the music swing, and she received several awards, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
At the 50th Grammy Awards in 2008, she performed That Old Black Magic with Kid Rock.
Her many albums included one with Nelson Riddle’s orchestrations, I Wish You Love, which sold more than a million copies and the single was nominated for a Grammy.