Artist's albums
Mabel Mercer Sings Cole Porter
1996 · album
Echoes of My Life
1980 · album
The Art Of Mabel Mercer
1952 · album
Midnight At Mabel Mercer's
1956 · album
Once In A Blue Moon
1958 · album
Merely Marvelous With The Jimmy Lyon Trio
1960 · album
Mercer & Short: Second Town Hall (Live)
1969 · album
Similar artists
Susannah McCorkle
Artist
Julie Wilson
Artist
Lee Wiley
Artist
Carol Sloane
Artist
Bobby Short
Artist
Helen Merrill
Artist
Annie Ross
Artist
Jeri Southern
Artist
Irene Kral
Artist
Chris Connor
Artist
Margaret Whiting
Artist
Beverly Kenney
Artist
Betty Carter
Artist
Billy Eckstine
Artist
Morgana King
Artist
Dorothy Dandridge
Artist
Sue Raney
Artist
June Christy
Artist
Ernestine Anderson
Artist
Biography
Respected and honored by her peers, cabaret singer Mabel Mercer was one of the strongest song interpreters in traditional pop, a large influence on singers including Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, as well as a ready rediscoverer of once-forgotten nuggets like "Fly Me to the Moon." Born in Staffordshire, England, Mercer was the child of American jazz singer Warren Mercer, Sr. (who died before Mabel's birth), and British music hall actress Gertrude Doak. Though she was classically trained in voice, her professional debut came as a dancer, while she was still in her teens. Mercer was back to vocals by the '20s, and during the decade she appeared in clubs throughout Europe as well as the Middle East. By the end of the Roaring '20s, she had settled in Paris and gained fame on the city's cabaret scene, populated and made famous by American expatriates, from Cole Porter to Ernest Hemingway. Mercer made her New York debut in 1938 and soon began a club residency that eventually lasted 20 years. Her notable influence on Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne, and Nat King Cole gained her additional fans; after signing to Atlantic in the early '50s, Mercer recorded several LPs during the decade. During the '60s, she recorded two live LPs with Bobby Short. The following decade saw her appearing at Carnegie Hall and on her own British television special. Despite a brief retirement, she returned in the early '80s and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. ~ John Bush, Rovi