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Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth, DBE (birthname Clementine Dinah Bullock, 1927) is an English jazz and pop singer and an actress, noted for her scat singing and for her vocal range. 

Laine is the only female performer to have received Grammy nominations in the jazz, popular and classical music categories. She is the widow of jazz composer Sir John Dankworth.

Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Lena Horne were all influences on Laine when she was young.

Laine is famed for not only her interpretative style, but also her four-octave range and vocal adaptability. As well as hitting deep soulful notes, Laine's thrilling scatting and crystalline top notes have become her signature. Though her natural range is that of a contralto she is able to produce a "G above high C". Derek Jewel of the Sunday Times dubbed her "quite simply the best singer in the world."

The longevity of Laine's voice has also been noted by, among others, her husband. At the age of 80 her vocals, he noted during an interview, were almost unchanged from decades earlier.

In 1979, Laine was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to music.
In 1997, Laine's membership of the order was elevated to Dame Commander, and she was appointed Dame Cleo Laine DBE (the equivalent of a knighthood).


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Cleo Laine - Blue And Sentimental - 1992
Cleo Laine - Cleo At Carnegie The 10Th Anniversary Concert - 1983
Cleo Laine - Cleo Sings Sondheim - 1987
Cleo Laine - Jazz - 1991
Cleo Laine - Shakespeare And All That Jazz - 1964
Cleo Laine - That Old Feeling - 1983
Cleo Laine - Woman To Woman - 1989
Cleo Laine & Dudley Moore - Smilin' Through - 1982
Cleo Laine & James Galway - Sometimes When We Touch - 1980
Cleo Laine & John Dankworth - The Collection - 2002
Cleo Laine & John Williams - Best Friends - 1993
Cleo Laine & Mel Torme - Nothing Without You - 1992
Cleo Laine & Ray Charles - Porgy & Bess - 1976
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