Person in history
Barbara Dane
Barbara Dane, American folk, blues and jazz singer (born 1927)
Life at a glance
- Died
- 2024 · October 20
Their story
Who they were
Barbara Dane, American folk, blues and jazz singer (born 1927)
Early life
Early life Dane's parents were from Arkansas , and arrived in Detroit where she was born in the 1920s. Her father Gilbert Spillman was a pharmacist who ran his own store, and her mother Dorothy (Roleson) Spillman was a professional bridge player . She was the oldest of three children. In the 1930s, when she was nine years old, her father chastised her for serving a Coca-Cola to a Black man, and he ejected the man from his store.
Path and career
Career as singer To Ebony magazine, she seemed "startlingly blonde, especially when that powerful dusky alto voice begins to moan of trouble, two-timing men and freedom ... with stubborn determination, enthusiasm and a basic love for the underdog, [she is] making a name for herself ... aided and abetted by some of the oldest names in jazz who helped give birth to the blues." The seven-page article was filled with photos of Dane working with Memphis Slim , Willie Dixon , Muddy Waters , Clara Ward , Mama Yancey ,
Why this date
Barbara Dane appears on our October 20 calendar for 2024 as a death entry.
Sources
Cite this page
“Barbara Dane”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/people/barbara-dane, accessed October 25, 2026.
Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.
Questions about Barbara Dane
When did Barbara Dane die?
October 20 2024.
Who else was born on this day?
The date page lists everyone we hold for that calendar day.
Text adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 and from Wikidata (CC0). Images come from Wikimedia Commons; credit and licence are shown with each image. Editorial entries are © What's On This Date. Sources & licensing · How this site works.