Celebrity News December 17, 2017
Keely Smith, Legendary Singer, Dead at 89
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Keely Smith, a singer famous for her solo hits and many recordings with first husband Louis Prima in the '40s and '50s, has died.
According to a press release from Keely Records, Smith was 89 and under the care of doctors when she passed away from "apparent heart failure" in Palm Springs Saturday.
Singing professionally from the time she was 15, Smith won a Grammy for "That Old Black Magic" in 1959, the award show's inaugural year. Memorably, Smith sang the same song in 2008 on the Grammys with Kid Rock.
Before Smith retired in 2011, she told Theatermania, "Nobody will ever interfere with what I do on stage. Someone might have an opinion of something but, if I disagree with it, I'll go with my own thinking. I'm just a plain person. I sing like I talk — and, when I'm onstage, I talk just like I'm talking to you."
Memorial services are pending.
