She died of congestive heart failure at her Century City, Ca. home. She was 90 Jo Stafford, the singer known to American Soldiers during WW II as GI Jo has died. She died of congestive heart failure at her Century City, Ca. home. She was 90. Cashbox musicologist have put a proper perspective on her long and illustrious career. Stafford began her career with the Tommy Dorsey Band, both as an individual vocalist and a member of the Pied Pipers.  Her first solo single was a double sided 78 hit "Old Acquaintance" backed with "How Sweet You Are" from January 1944. This was followed by a string of # 1 and gold hits including "Candy" 1945, "Shrimp Boats" 1951, "You Belong To Me" 1952 which stayed on top of the charts and incredible 12 weeks, the Hank Williams classic "Jambalaya" 1952, "Make Love To Me" 1954 which stayed # 1 for seven weeks and a # 1 hit "My Darling, My Darling" a duet with Gordon MacRae from 1954. Jo Stafford reportedly sold over 25 million records. She had a total of 92 charted hits, 75 during the Hit Parade era, 10 with Gordon MacRae and 7 during the Rock era the biggest being a competitive hit with Gogi Grant "Suddenly There’s A Valley" which peaked at # 13. She is among the top 3 female vocalist of the pre-rock era along with Patti Page and Dinah Shore. |
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