TORONTO (CelebrityAccess) — Salome Bey, a Toronto-based singer, songwriter and actress regarded as Canada’s first lady of blues, died on August 8, at age 86, after a long illness.
A cause of death for Bey was not disclosed but she was diagnosed with dementia in 2004 and had been receiving care at a long term living facility in Toronto, the Toronto Star reported.
Born in Newark, N.J., Bey formed a vocal group Andy and the Bey Sisters with her brother Andy, and sister Geraldine and began performing in local clubs before tours of the United States and Europe.
In 1964, Bey relocated to Toronto, and began performing in the city’s nightclub circuit, as well as on radio and televion.
In 1969, she was featured as a performer on the Canadian National Exhibition
In 1976, Bey appeared on Broadway in Your Arms Too Short to Box with God, a musical based on the Biblical Book of Matthew which earned Bey a Grammy nomination for her work on the cast album.
She also wrote and starred in Indigo a cabaret detailing the history of Black Music, which won two Dora Mavor Moore Awards.
In 2005, she was inducted into the Order of Canada.
In her sixties, she began to show signs of dementia and by 2011, she the disability left her unable to perform.
