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Singer and Radio Star Jo Stafford Dies at 90 |
Contributed By: Joanna Ester
Created On: Friday, 18 July 2008
Hits: 139
 Jo Stafford
Stafford died of congestive heart failure Wednesday (July 16) at her Century City home, her son, Tim Weston of Topanga, said Friday. She had been in declining health since October, he said.
Stafford had 26 charted singles and nearly a dozen top 10 hits, her son said. She won a Grammy for her humor.
Stafford's records of "I'll Walk Alone," "I'll Be Seeing You," "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" and other sentimental songs struck the hearts of servicemen far from home in both World War II and the Korean War. They awarded her the title of "GI Jo."
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was born Nov. 12, 1917, in Coalinga, CA, where her Tennessee father had come to work in the oil fields. When a new field was discovered in Long Beach, he moved his wife and four daughters south.
Young Jo studied classical music for more than three years and was cast in a high school production of "Robert." But the 1933 Long Beach earthquake destroyed the school, and she joined her two older sisters singing pop songs on radio as the Stafford Sisters.
Stafford made her last recording in 1970 although her songs continue to be used in movie soundtracks, her son said.
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