Dinah Washington, a dexterous jazz, blues and pop singer called “The Queen of the Blues, died on this day in 1963. Four years earlier, she won a Grammy for her take on "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes."

She was a template for pained R&B divas given to luxury—she had her share of shoes, furs and cars according to NPR. She acquired things to try to offset a deep inner hurt.

Nevertheless, she was cloaked in toughness.

When Etta James covered her version of “Unforgettable” while she was in the audience, she went off, yelling, “Bitch, don’t ever sing the Queen’s songs when the Queen is right in front of you!” The moment was appropriated for the Aretha Franklin biopic, ‘Respect.’

She was flawed and not to be played with, but above all, she was a gifted vocalist who could meander between music styles. Fans adored her, with some especially loyal ones coming to see her multiple times. Below is an excerpt detailing one of her sets. It’s from Nadine Cahodas’ book “Queen: The Life and Music of Dinah Washington.”

Washington is key to our understanding of pop music. She influenced Aretha Franklin, who, like her, was a gospel virtuoso turned woman of Black sonic variety. They both could express emotion through phrasing—a technique also employed by Whitney Houston, another gospel singer who could do it all.

“She could take the melody in her hand, hold it like an egg, crack it open, fry it, let it sizzle, reconstruct it, put the egg back in the box and back in the refrigerator and you would've still understood every single syllable,” Quincy Jones said of Washington.

May we never forget her.