Black Greekdom Mourns The Death of Grammy-Winning Jazz Vocalist and Alpha Kappa Alpha Member Cassandra Wilson

Cassandra Wilson, the two-time Grammy Award-winning vocalist and 2022 NEA Jazz Master who was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, died on September 2, 2026, at her home in Jackson, Mississippi. She was 70.

Her manager, Robert Torre, said Wilson “transitioned peacefully at home, surrounded by family, close friends and her manager,” Mississippi Today reported.

Alpha Kappa Alpha shared the news on its official social media account, extending condolences “to her family, friends, and the entire Beta Delta Omega Chapter as we celebrate a life beautifully and boldly lived.”

Wilson was initiated into Beta Delta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the graduate chapter based in Jackson, Mississippi, which was chartered at Tougaloo College.

Born Cassandra Fowlkes in Jackson in 1955, she graduated from Murrah High School and earned a mass communications degree from Jackson State University. She later signed with Blue Note Records and won Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album for “New Moon Daughter” and “Loverly.” She sang on Wynton Marsalis’ “Blood on the Fields,” the first jazz work to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, and TIME named her America’s best singer in 2001.

Jackson Mayor John Horhn said “Jackson has lost an extraordinary native daughter, and the world has lost a singular musical voice,” according to WLBT.

We at Watch The Yard extend our condolences to her family, to the sorors of Beta Delta Omega, and to Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.