Voting Station

Mary Lou Williams

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Composer

The Resume

    (May 8, 1910-May 28, 1981)
    Born in Atlanta, Georgia
    Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
    Died in Durham, North Carolina
    Recipient, Guggenheim Fellowship (1972, 1977)
    Inductee, Jazz Hall of Fame (1990)
    Succumbed to bladder cancer at 71

Why she might be annoying:

    She initially married at 17, and divorced 15 years later.
    She never officially divorced second husband noted trumpeter Harold 'Shorty' Baker.
    At once time she worked transporting corpses for an undertaker.
    In the 1950s, she ceased performing, ensconcing herself in Catholicism.

Why she might not be annoying:

    Her first public piano performance was at 6, when she played to help take care of 10 half-siblings.
    Two priests and Dizzy Gillespie convinced her to return to the stage.
    She created the Bel Canto Foundation which assisted artists recovering from drug addiction in their return to music.
    She mentored Theolonius Monk, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.
    She wrote and arranged countless songs for Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington.
    Toward the end of her life, she stated, 'I did it, didn't I? Through muck and mud.'

Credit: Black Chic


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 7 Votes: 28.57% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 78 Votes: 52.56% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 27 Votes: 48.15% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying