Eva Cassidy – Voice of an Angel

This week sees the 25^th anniversary of the death of American folk/soul/blues singer and guitarist Eva Cassidy. With her powerful soprano voice, she was best known for the song Over the Rainbow and the album Songbird.

Born in February 1963 in Washington D.C. she grew up in Maryland and at an early age displayed a great interest and talent in singing and playing the guitar. At age 11 she started performing with a band at weddings, parties and pubs, but due to her shyness she suffered greatly from stage fright. Over the following years her career spiralled, having much success and winning many awards along the way.

In 1993 she had a malignant mole removed from her back and three years later, around July 1996, after noticing an ache in her hips which persisted, she underwent x-rays where it was found that she was suffering from a fracture. 

However further tests found that the cancer had spread to her bones and to her lungs, and was terminal with it being estimated that she only had 3-5 months to live. Sadly chemotherapy was ineffective and she passed away on November 2^nd, 1996 at the age of 33.

Two years after she passed away, her music was brought to the attention on British audiences by Mike Harding and the late Terry Wogan on BBC Radio 2. Soon after the compilation album Songbird went to the top of the UK album charts, almost 3 years after its initial release. This chart success in the UK led to increased recognition throughout the rest of the world and her posthumously released recordings have sold over 10 million copies.