Grace Melzia Bumbry, an American opera singer who was a prominent soprano and a top mezzo-soprano of her day, died on May 7, 2023, at the age of 86. Bumbry’s death was confirmed by her publicist, David Lee Brewer.
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Brewer did not reveal circumstances which led to Bumbry’s death. However, she suffered a stroke in October 2022.
Born on January 4, 1937, Bumbry rose to international prominence when Wieland Wagner (Richard Wagner’s grandson) cast her as Venus in Tannhäuser at Bayreuth in 1961, at the age of 24, making her the first black vocalist to debut there, earning her the moniker “Black Venus.”
As Princess Eboli in Verdi’s Don Carlo, she made her Royal Opera House, Covent Garden debut in 1963, her La Scala debut in 1964, and her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1965.
Bumbry made her debut as a soprano in 1964, performing Verdi’s Lady Macbeth at the Vienna State Opera.
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She also recorded music for the Bizet opera Carmen Jones, as well as operetta (Johan Strauss II’s Der Zigeunerbaron), oratorio (Handel’s Israel in Egypt and Judas Maccabeus), and a pop album.
Bumbry was honored with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
Among other distinctions, she received the UNESCO Award, the Academy of Music of the West’s Outstanding Alumna Award, Italy’s Premio Giuseppe Verdi, and the French government’s Commandeur des Arts et Lettres.
In 1972, she won a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording.
She was among those honored with the 2009 Kennedy Center Honors on December 6, 2009, for her contributions to the performing arts.
On December 5, 2021, she paid tribute to her Operatic friend Justino Diaz, who was one of five people honored at the 2021 Kennedy Center Honors that night.
She lived in Switzerland for many years before moving to Vienna, Austria, where she died on May 7, 2023.
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