Who was Nancy King? All about Iconic Grammy-nominated jazz singer as she dies at 85

Nancy King, an iconic jazz vocalist from Portland, Oregon, has died at the age of 85 on August 5, 2025. Her passing marks the end of an era for the Northwest jazz community.

Tributes have been pouring in for the legendary artist on her demise. Her friends, colleagues, and fans are remembering her in emotional posts. According to KGW8, Ron Steen, who met her in 1960s, said,

“She's a one and only. There will never be another Nancy King in any way. She was just outstanding, her sense of... her improvisational skills and playing in the musical moment. Whether you like jazz or not, it would be impossible not to be positively affected by her artistry”

Nancy King recorded her first album, Perennial, with Steve Christofferson in 1993. She performed with Leroy Vinnegar, John Stowell, Lawrence Williams, and Eddie Wied, among others. He other albums were Impending Bloom, Potato Radio, and Cliff Dance. In 1986, jazz guitarist Herb Ellis referred to her as “the greatest living jazz singer.”

Her death has left a void in the jazz industry.

Here are more details on her life.

All we know about the life of jazz singer Nancy King

Nancy King was born in Eugene, Oregon, on June 15, 1940. In an interview with the Jazz Times, she revealed that her parents were inclined towards music as they were pianists. Her mother performed classical music, and her father was a bebopper who played flophouses in New Orleans. She was the youngest of her three siblings and grew up listening to jazz music.

She said that she learned solos at the age of 4 or 5. At the age of 7, she received a pair of bongos. She began her career as a drummer in the 1950s, while performing in groups for 12 years. When she enrolled in the University of Oregon in 1959, she began performing with guitarist Ralph Towner and bassist Glen Moore.

Another report in the All About Jazz indicated that she came to the San Francisco jazz scene of the early 1960s from Springfield, Oregon. She began to perform at Jimbo’s Bop City in San Francisco, where she met saxophonist Sonny King, who is the father of their three children. They never married, and he died in 1983 at the age of 52, per Oregon Encyclopedia.

Nancy King began touring in the 2000s. In 2001, King was inducted into the Oregon Jazz Society’s Hall of Fame. In 2004, her fellow jazz singer Karin Allyson invited King to tour with her. She collaborated with Fred Hersch in 2006 for her album, Nancy King Live at the Jazz Standard, for which she was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Jazz Vocalist category. In her interview with the Jazz Times, King recalled:

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“Singing with Fred was like falling off a log. He plays beautifully. We talked down tunes, picked out the ones we wanted to record and it was just that easy – arrangements on the spot. All that was required was listening. It was exciting to receive my first Grammy nomination, especially on a live project that was so easy.”

Her final performance at PDX Jazz “was a moment of pure magic—one that we were honored to witness and now hold even closer in our hearts,” described PDX Jazz in its Facebook post.

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