Grammy-winning American jazz singer Al Jarreau dies aged 76

Grammy-winning jazz singer Al Jarreau has died in a Los Angeles hospital aged 76 just days after announcing his retirement from touring due to exhaustion.

Jarreau was taken to hospital and was said to have been improving slowly.

The Wisconsin-born musician won seven Grammys over a 50-year career. His biggest single was 1981’s We’re In This Love Together.

Jarreau was a vocalist on the all-star 1985 track, We Are the World, and sang the theme to TV’s Moonlighting.

He is one of the few artists to have won Grammys in three separate categories – jazz, pop and R&B.

Time Magazine once called Jarreau the “greatest jazz singer alive”. In a 2014 interview with The Arizona Republic, Jarreau relished in his crossover tendencies.

“I grew up in Milwaukee, and I took it all in. I want it all. Don’t cut me off at the pass and say I can’t listen to Muddy Waters because I’m a jazzer. Or I can’t listen to Garth Brooks because I’m a jazzer. Get out of here,” he said.

Music was not always Jarreau’s focus. He was an athlete who earned a masters in vocal rehabilitation and started his career as a counsellor in San Francisco, playing jazz on the side. Jarreau did not record his first album until he was 35.

He is survived by his wife, Susan, and son Ryan.