Eva Marie Cassidy ( February 2, 1963 – November 2, 1996) was an American vocalist described by the British newspaper The Guardian as "one of the greatest voices of her generation". Although possessing a soulful voice, an extraordinary range, and a diverse repertoire of jazz, blues, folk, gospel and pop, she still remained virtually unknown outside of her native Washington, DC, when she died of melanoma in 1996. However, her posthumously released recordings have since sold in excess of four million copies, and in early 2001 the compilation album Songbird reached #1 on the UK album charts.
Eva Cassidy was the third of four children born to Hugh and Barbara Cassidy. From an early age, she displayed exceptional artistic and musical talent. When she was nine years old, her father bought her a guitar, and she began to play at family gatherings with her musical siblings.
As she entered her teens, however, Cassidy seemed to be unaware of the depth of her own talent. She did, however, sing with an amateur band, called Stonehenge, during high school and received considerable praise. Due to her extreme shyness, she struggled with performing in front of strangers.
At the age of eighteen, Cassidy began her professional career, singing and playing guitar in a Washington, D.C. area band, called Easy Street. This band performed in a variety of styles, at weddings, corporate parties, and smokey pubs. Cassidy paid her dues as a struggling young musician, working with Easy Street on Christmas night in 1982, at a neighborhood pub in Bowie, Maryland.
