Alicia Keys to sing at Ruby Dee memorial in NYC

MARK KENNEDY
AP Drama Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — A memorial for actress and civil rights activist Ruby Dee will feature music by Alicia Keys and Audra McDonald, reflections by former Mayor David Dinkins and Sonia Sanchez, and a eulogy by Harry Belafonte.

The Terrie Williams Agency said Thursday that the celebration of Lee’s life will be held at the Riverside Church in New York on Sept. 20. Dee died June 11 at 91.

Dee’s poetry and prose will be read by Angela Bassett, Tyne Daly, Kim Fields, S. Epatha Merkerson, Phylicia Rashad, Pauletta Washington and Lynn Whitfield. Musical tributes will be performed by Keys, McDonald, Wynton Marsalis and Peter Yarrow.

Dee’s long career earned her an Emmy, a Grammy, two Screen Actors Guild awards, the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Art and an Oscar nomination.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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