Ella Fitzgerald was born in 1918 in Virginia and died in 1996, at the age of 78. She was possibly the greatest female jazz vocalist of the 20th century. Her intonation was flawless, her timing was perfect; she was a melody's best friend. Ella had the most impressive repertoire, classic melodies and ballads as well as improvised songs of her own; her swing and scat singing were sublime. The added attraction were the wonderful lyrics together with her characteristic "shoobee-doobee-doobee". Lyricists loved to have her record their works, composers loved her dedication to melody and jazz musicians loved her improvisation. She fully used her voice as an instrument; she was not some laboratory-created singing machine, she was a natural singer. Her success was worldwide and at the vicinity of a microphone she emanated a radiant glow. Bing Crosby said of her: " the best ear of any singer ever " and called her " the greatest ". She was the First Lady of Song.