Ivie Anderson

Infobox musical artist
Name = Ivie Anderson


Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Ivie Anderson
Alias = Ivy Anderson
Born = July 10, 1905
Died = December 28, 1949 (44)
Origin = Gilroy, California
Instrument = Vocals
Voice_type =
Genre = Jazz
Occupation = Singer
Years_active =
Label =
Associated_acts = Duke Ellington
URL =

Ivie Anderson (sometimes Ivy) (July 10, 1905 – December 28, 1949) was an American jazz singer. She was best-known for her performances with Duke Ellington's orchestra between 1931 and 1942.

She was born in Gilroy, California. With a sweet, clear singing voice, she was a popular attraction with Ellington's band. Her performance of "Stormy Weather" in the movie short "Bundle of Blues" (1933) was only eclipsed by the later and far better known version sung by Lena Horne in Horne's movie that was also entitled "Stormy Weather" (1943).

Over Ellington's long career as bandleader, his indifference toward vocalists changed with the hiring of Anderson, who was generally considered the best vocalist he ever employed.

She also appeared as a singer in the Marx Brothers movie "A Day at the Races" (1937) and the same year in "Hit Parade of 1937" (as Ivy Anderson).

Other Ellington songs featuring Anderson include "It Don't Mean a Thing (If it Ain't Got That Swing)," "My Old Flame," "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street," "Mood Indigo," "Rocks in My Bed" and "I Got It Bad & That Ain't Good."

She developed chronic asthma, which forced her to retire from touring in August 1942. She ran a chicken restaurant (Ivie's Chicken Shack) and continued singing in nightclubs on the West Coast, but deteriorating health limited her engagements and led to her untimely death.

Ivie Anderson died at age 44 in Los Angeles, California. She is interred in Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery.