Grammy-winning jazz singer Al Jarreau dies at 76

FILE – In this Sept. 27, 2015, file photo, Al Jarreau performs at the Rock in Rio music festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Jarreau died in a Los Angeles hospital Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017, according to his official Twitter account and website. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)
Singer Al Jarreau has more than an earful as he holds up his Grammy he won during the 24th annual Grammy Awards presentation in Los Angeles Wednesday night, Feb. 25, 1982. Jarreau won the honors for best pop male vocalist and best jazz male vocalist. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Singer Al Jarreau has more than an earful as he holds up his Grammy he won during the 24th annual Grammy Awards presentation in Los Angeles Wednesday night, Feb. 25, 1982. Jarreau won the honors for best pop male vocalist and best jazz male vocalist. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Some of a group of 45 music artists calling themselves "USA For Africa" recording "We Are The World" in Los Angeles, Calif.  Jan. 30, 1985. Bottom row, from left; Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen, James Ingram, Smokey Robinson, Ray Charles, Sheila E., June Pointer, Randy Jackson. Middle row, from left; Al Jarreau, Dionne Warwick, Lionel Richie, Kenny Rogers, Huey Lewis, Bob Dylan, John Oates, Ruth Pointer. Top row, from left; Daryl Hall, Steve Perry, Kenny Loggins, Jeffrey Osborne, Lindsay Buckingham, and Anita Pointer.  (AP Photo)
Some of a group of 45 music artists calling themselves “USA For Africa” recording “We Are The World” in Los Angeles, Calif. Jan. 30, 1985. Bottom row, from left; Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen, James Ingram, Smokey Robinson, Ray Charles, Sheila E., June Pointer, Randy Jackson. Middle row, from left; Al Jarreau, Dionne Warwick, Lionel Richie, Kenny Rogers, Huey Lewis, Bob Dylan, John Oates, Ruth Pointer. Top row, from left; Daryl Hall, Steve Perry, Kenny Loggins, Jeffrey Osborne, Lindsay Buckingham, and Anita Pointer. (AP Photo)
Grammy award winning singer Al Jarreau, center, celebrates with family and friends after he was honored the 2,174th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Tuesday, March 6, 2001, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Patrick Liotta)
Grammy award winning singer Al Jarreau, center, celebrates with family and friends after he was honored the 2,174th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Tuesday, March 6, 2001, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Patrick Liotta)
FILE - In this Sunday, Feb. 11, 2007, file photo, Al Jarreau poses with his awards for best pop instrumental performance for "Mornin'" and best traditional R&B vocal performance for "God Bless the Child" at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Jarreau died in a Los Angeles hospital early Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017, according to his official Twitter account and website. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)
FILE – In this Sunday, Feb. 11, 2007, file photo, Al Jarreau poses with his awards for best pop instrumental performance for “Mornin'” and best traditional R&B vocal performance for “God Bless the Child” at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Jarreau died in a Los Angeles hospital early Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017, according to his official Twitter account and website. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)
Al Jarreau arrives for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2007, in Los Angeles.  (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
Al Jarreau arrives for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2007, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
US singer Al Jarreau performs on stage during the 41st Montreux Jazz Festival 2007, Thursday July 12th 2007.  (KEYSTONE/Dominic Favre)
US singer Al Jarreau performs on stage during the 41st Montreux Jazz Festival 2007, Thursday July 12th 2007. (KEYSTONE/Dominic Favre)
Al Jarreau, right, and Ambrose Akinmusire  perform during an all-star tribute concert for Herbie Hancock, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007, in Los Angeles. The concert is part of the Thelonius Monk International Jazz competitio, which Akinmusire won.  (AP Photo/Rene Macura)
Al Jarreau, right, and Ambrose Akinmusire perform during an all-star tribute concert for Herbie Hancock, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007, in Los Angeles. The concert is part of the Thelonius Monk International Jazz competitio, which Akinmusire won. (AP Photo/Rene Macura)
Al Jarreau, seven-time Grammy Award winner,  performs at the jazz festival in Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Al Jarreau, seven-time Grammy Award winner, performs at the jazz festival in Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Seven-time Grammy Award winner, US vocalist Al Jarreau performs with Italian  group Matia Bazar during the 62nd edition of the Sanremo Song Festival, in Sanremo, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Seven-time Grammy Award winner, US vocalist Al Jarreau performs with Italian group Matia Bazar during the 62nd edition of the Sanremo Song Festival, in Sanremo, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Al Jarreaus performs at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans on Saturday, May 3, 2014. (Photo by Barry Brecheisen/Invision/AP)
Al Jarreau performs at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans on Saturday, May 3, 2014. (Photo by Barry Brecheisen/Invision/AP)
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - SEPTEMBER 27: Al Jarreau performs at 2015 Rock in Rio on September 27, 2015 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Mauricio Santana/Getty Images)
Al Jarreau performs at 2015 Rock in Rio on September 27, 2015 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Mauricio Santana/Getty Images)
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Singer Al Jarreau has more than an earful as he holds up his Grammy he won during the 24th annual Grammy Awards presentation in Los Angeles Wednesday night, Feb. 25, 1982. Jarreau won the honors for best pop male vocalist and best jazz male vocalist. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Some of a group of 45 music artists calling themselves "USA For Africa" recording "We Are The World" in Los Angeles, Calif.  Jan. 30, 1985. Bottom row, from left; Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen, James Ingram, Smokey Robinson, Ray Charles, Sheila E., June Pointer, Randy Jackson. Middle row, from left; Al Jarreau, Dionne Warwick, Lionel Richie, Kenny Rogers, Huey Lewis, Bob Dylan, John Oates, Ruth Pointer. Top row, from left; Daryl Hall, Steve Perry, Kenny Loggins, Jeffrey Osborne, Lindsay Buckingham, and Anita Pointer.  (AP Photo)
Grammy award winning singer Al Jarreau, center, celebrates with family and friends after he was honored the 2,174th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Tuesday, March 6, 2001, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Patrick Liotta)
FILE - In this Sunday, Feb. 11, 2007, file photo, Al Jarreau poses with his awards for best pop instrumental performance for "Mornin'" and best traditional R&B vocal performance for "God Bless the Child" at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Jarreau died in a Los Angeles hospital early Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017, according to his official Twitter account and website. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)
Al Jarreau arrives for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2007, in Los Angeles.  (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
US singer Al Jarreau performs on stage during the 41st Montreux Jazz Festival 2007, Thursday July 12th 2007.  (KEYSTONE/Dominic Favre)
Al Jarreau, right, and Ambrose Akinmusire  perform during an all-star tribute concert for Herbie Hancock, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007, in Los Angeles. The concert is part of the Thelonius Monk International Jazz competitio, which Akinmusire won.  (AP Photo/Rene Macura)
Al Jarreau, seven-time Grammy Award winner,  performs at the jazz festival in Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Seven-time Grammy Award winner, US vocalist Al Jarreau performs with Italian  group Matia Bazar during the 62nd edition of the Sanremo Song Festival, in Sanremo, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Al Jarreaus performs at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans on Saturday, May 3, 2014. (Photo by Barry Brecheisen/Invision/AP)
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - SEPTEMBER 27: Al Jarreau performs at 2015 Rock in Rio on September 27, 2015 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Mauricio Santana/Getty Images)
October 9, 2024 | WTOP's Rob Woodfork discusses the monumental impact of Al Jarreau (Rob Woodfork)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Grammy-winning jazz singer Al Jarreau, who transcended genres over a 50-year career, died at a Los Angeles hospital Sunday, just days after announcing his retirement from touring because of exhaustion, his manager Joe Gordon confirmed.

His official Twitter account says he died surrounded by his wife, son and a few other family members and friends. He was 76.

Jarreau was hospitalized earlier in the week and was said to have been improving slowly. The cause of his death was not revealed, but he had experienced a number of respiratory and cardiac issues in recent years.

The Milwaukee native won seven Grammys over the course of his half-century in music. His biggest single was 1981’s “We’re in This Love Together” from the album “Breakin’ Away.” Jarreau was also a vocalist on the all-star 1985 track, “We Are the World,” and sang the theme to TV’s “Moonlighting.”

“We feel very fortunate to have worked with Al, one of the most distinctive and extraordinary vocalists in the music,” said Concord Records President John Burk in a statement. “He was truly a force of nature and a beautiful human being that will be fondly remembered and deeply missed by us all.”

Jarreau is one of the few artists to have won Grammys in three separate categories — jazz, pop and R&B. Time Magazine once called him the “greatest jazz singer alive.”

News of Jarreau’s death came as the Grammy Awards were kicking off in Los Angeles.

“He was really one of the most creative vocalists who ever lived,” jazz singer Tierney Sutton told The Associated Press on the red carpet. “His voice was like an instrument.”

Sutton collaborated with Jarreau on the Joni Mitchell tribute album “After Blue” from 2013.

“Al Jarreau was incredible,” Jill Scott told the AP. “He was one of the most awesome, strange performers I ever met — and I mean strange in the best way. He was all about elegance, whether it was drinking a cup of tea or saying good morning.”

Scott, an R&B singer, recorded with Jarreau and George Benson in 2006 on “God Bless the Child.”

Tributes poured in on social media in remembrance of Jarreau as well. Director Ava DuVernay tweeted that her mom used to play Jarreau’s vinyl and that his voice made her happy.

Actress Octavia Spencer wrote that Jarreau “had a mellifluous voice. Soothing. Beautiful.”

Singer Chaka Khan tweeted that he was an “unrivaled improvisational genius.”

In a 2014 interview with The Arizona Republic, Jarreau relished in his crossover tendencies.

“I grew up in Milwaukee, and I took it all in. I want it all. Don’t cut me off at the pass and say I can’t listen to Muddy Waters because I’m a jazzer. Or I can’t listen to Garth Brooks because I’m a jazzer. Get out of here,” he said.

Music wasn’t always Jarreau’s focus, however — he didn’t even record his first album until he was 35. Born to a minister father and a mother who played the piano in church, Jarreau sang from an early age, but he was also an athlete who earned a master’s in vocal rehabilitation and started his career as a counselor in San Francisco, playing jazz on the side.

But he couldn’t ignore his passion for performance and eventually gave up his first career to do music full time.

“His second priority in life was music. There was no third,” read the statement on Jarreau’s website. “His first priority, far ahead of the other, was healing or comforting anyone in need.”

His final album, “My Old Friend: Celebrating George Duke,” was released in 2014.

Jarreau is survived by his wife, Susan, and a son, Ryan. In lieu of flowers or gifts, a donation page has been set up for the Wisconsin Foundation for School Music.

___

AP Reporter Beth Harris contributed from Los Angeles.

Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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