Singer and voice teacher Debra Byrd has died.
She was 72 years old.
The star died at her home in Los Angeles on Tuesday. She had been on hit shows like “The Voice” and “American Idol.”
Deadline says that the exact cause of Debra’s death has not been confirmed yet.
Several famous people, including Barry Manilow, a longtime friend and coworker, have led moving tributes to Debra’s life.
Barry told his social media followers about a sad post.
“I’ve never been so sad in my life today.” “I just can’t fathom the thought of Debra not being with me anymore,” he wrote.
“I had one of the best friends ever in her. “My love, I will always miss you.”
A lot of big names had worked with Debra, like Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson, and Bob Dylan.
Jennifer shared her condolences on X, which used to be Twitter.
“Heartbroken over the passing of Debra Byrd, the vocal coach on American Idol,” said she.
“From the start, she gave us hope and support!
It’s amazing how much she taught us. She will be missed very much, but her music lives on through the work of many artists she inspired during her lifetime.
After that, she said, “Rest in peace, Debra.”
After making it to the finals of American Idol with Debra in 2004, Jennifer became famous.
Clay Aiken and other alumni talked about how much Debra helped them.
“I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that no one was a better mentor, coach, teacher, or champion to us Idol contestants than Byrd was,” he wrote on the web.
Someone else spent more time with us than us.
“I will never forget how hard she drilled us to look straight into the camera and connect with the people watching at home.” Her presence made many people’s lives better. I feel so lucky to have met her and become friends with her.
WORK LIFE OF DEBRA
She was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and went to Kent State University before becoming a musician.
In between studying, she got better at what she did in the Karamu and Dobama Theaters.
After she graduated, she became a backup singer in Barry’s band.
“Street Singin’” by Ladyflash was a top 30 single on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976.
Barry put together the music for his backup singer.
Before she moved to The Voice, where she cared for and helped the contestants, Debra worked on American Idol for 10 seasons.
RESULT RECORDS
Her career has been praised by many, and in 2018 she sang in the choir during a performance of Mighty River at the Academy Awards.
She also worked with Bob Dylan as a coach on the Hard to Handle: Bob Dylan in Concert tour in Australia in the mid-1980s.
She also worked on the 1986 song “Band of the Hand” with Dylan, Stevie Nicks, and the late Tom Petty.
Among the movies she worked on were Sister Act II, The Lion King 1½, and The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride.
She was hired by NBC to work on the vocal production for the 2019 Super Bowl tribute to Prince.
When the star wanted to work in academia again, she became chair of the vocal department at the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles.