Grace Bumbry husband: Was Grace Bumbry married at the time she died?

Grace Bumbry, a soprano with a great personality, a wide range, and celebrity beauty who became one of the first African Americans to conquer the international opera stage, died unmarried. She was formerly married to Erwin Jaeckel. Jaeckel and Bumbry married in 1963 but divorced after 9 years in 1972.

There is no information about how they met, nor about the events that led to their divorce.

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 soprano to debut there, earning her the moniker “Black Venus.”

Much of her recorded legacy comes from her mezzo period, which includes at least two Carmens and three Amnerises (possibly her most frequently performed and recorded role onstage), Venus (with Anja Silja as Elisabeth, at the 1962 Bayreuth Festival), Eboli and Orfeo, and Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at the Royal Festival Hall in April 1964.

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.