American singer and pianist Andy Bey was BOTD in 1939. Born in Newark, New Jersey to a working-class African-American family, he was a child prodigy, teaching himself to play the piano, and began singing professionally aged nine, often appearing alongside his sisters Salome and Geraldine. Talent spotted while performing at a nightclub, he released his first solo album Mama’s Little Boy’s Got the Blues in 1952, when he was 13. After attending Newark Arts High School, he appeared on the TV talent show Startime with Connie Francis. In 1965, he and his sisters formed Andy and the Bey Sisters, undertaking a 16 month tour of Europe and recording three albums together. After the trio disbanded in 1967, he pursued a solo career, making a splash with his 1973 jazz-blues album Experience and Judgment. Admired for his four-octave vocal range, virtuoso piano playing and fusion of jazz, blues and pop songs, he was frequently compared to his heroes Sarah Vaughan and Nat King Cole. His career fell into relative obscurity, though he continued to perform and record throughout the 1970s, collaborating with Sonny Rollins and Nick Drake. He made an impressive comeback in 1996 with the album Ballads, Blues and Bey, which became a critical and commercial success, and earned a Grammy nomination for his 2004 album American Song. His final album, Ain’t Necessarily So, was released in 2007. Openly gay since forever, he disclosed his HIV diagnosis shortly before releasing Ballads. He died in 2025, aged 85.