WICN Artist of the Month, November 2025: Mildred Bailey

Mildred Bailey, often called the “Queen of Swing,” was a Native American jazz singer during the 1930s. Known for her light soprano voice, clear articulation, and jazz phrasing, Bailey was one of the first nonblack performers to become a skilled jazz singer.

Bailey was born in 1907 on a farm in rural Washington but grew up in Idaho. Her mother, Josephine, was a citizen of the Coeur d’Alene tribe and her great-grandfather, Bazil Peone, was a head speaker and song leader of the tribe at the turn of the 20th century. On the Coeur d’Alene Reservation, her father played the fiddle, and her mother played piano each evening, teaching Mildred to sing and play as well. The family often hosted Saturday night gatherings, transforming their home into a lively music and dance hall for local ranchers, with both Josephine and Mildred at the piano. Mildred also accompanied her mother to traditional native ceremonies, where she heard and practiced the traditional songs and lyrics that would later shape her unique singing voice.

In 1913, the family moved to Spokane, Washington. Just three years later, Josephine passed away. After her father remarried and chose to prioritize his new wife over his children, Mildred was left on her own. She was briefly taken in by an aunt, who tragically died in a car accident that Mildred survived.

At 17, Bailey worked as a pianist in movie theaters, a music clerk at a radio station, and a singer in local speakeasies. A brief marriage to a man named Ted Bailey gave her the last name she kept throughout her career; her maiden name was Rinker. Still in her teens, she moved to Los Angeles with her second husband, Benny Stafford, and began performing regularly at nightclubs and speakeasies. Inspired by her early success, her brother Al Rinker and his friend Bing Crosby followed her to Los Angeles, where they were hired by band leader Paul Whiteman in 1926. Three years later, they introduced Whiteman to Bailey, who joined his orchestra, becoming the first widely recognized female vocalist to be featured regularly with a big band. Her four years with Whiteman launched her career, with standout renditions of songs like “Georgia on My Mind,” “Moanin’ Low,” and “Rockin’ Chair” becoming audience favorites.

Bailey was Whiteman’s featured vocalist through 1932, but left later that year due to salary disagreements. In 1933, she married xylophonist, band leader, and jazz musician Red Norvo, who had also worked with Whiteman. That same year, Norvo formed his own band while Bailey launched her solo career. She recorded with some of the top jazz musicians of the era, participated in an all-star session with Benny Goodman’s studio band, and appeared on national radio programs hosted by George Jessel and Willard Robison.

In 1936, when Norvo’s band began to struggle, Bailey joined as its featured soloist. The two became known as “Mr. and Mrs. Swing,” remaining married until 1942. After the band dissolved, Bailey resumed her solo career, performing at premier New York nightclubs, hosting her own CBS radio series in 1944, and continuing to collaborate with artists such as Count Basie and Benny Goodman.

Though health issues limited her activity after 1945, Bailey continued to perform occasionally until her death. After a third hospitalization in 1949, she retired to her farm in Poughkeepsie, New York. Bailey died of heart failure on December 12, 1951, at the age of 44. She was posthumously inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1989, and in 1994, the U.S. Postal Service honored her with a commemorative 29-cent stamp.