“Reared in gospel, Reese became a seductive, big-voiced secular music star with her No. 1 R&B and No. 2 pop hit ‘Don’t You Know’ in 1959. … She ranged through a series of releases that showed off her mastery of standards, jazz and contemporary pop through the early ’70s, and over the course of her career she received four Grammy Award nominations.” She went on to become an even bigger star on television, where she was the first black woman to host her own variety show and played major roles in Chico and the Man and Touched by an Angel.