CRANK UP THE VCR:

WE LOVE ELLA! A TRIBUTE TO THE FIRST LADY OF SONG (PBS, premieres on June 6, 2007 on PBS)

Dubbed "the First Lady of Song," Ella Fitzgerald consistently ranked among the most popular female jazz singers in the United States for more than half a century. In her lifetime, she won 13 Grammy Awards® and sold more than 40 million albums. With her unmistakable, dexterous voice, she sang sultry ballads and swinging pop standards with matchless jazz musicianship. She regularly collaborated with all the greats of American popular music from the mid-20th century, from Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Nat King Cole to Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie, and Benny Goodman. With April 25, 2007 marking what would have been Fitzgerald's 90th birthday, various tributes are under way, including the release of a commemorative stamp by the U.S. Postal Service. From USC's Galen Center, GREAT PERFORMANCES joins the celebration with an all-star tribute to Fitzgerald's enduring legacy in American song, featuring Patti Austin, Natalie Cole, George Duke, Jon Faddis, Quincy Jones, Dave Koz, Ledisi, Monica Mancini, James Moody, Ruben Studdard, Take 6, Nancy Wilson, Stevie Wonder, Lizz Wright, and Wynonna.

Other tributes to the singer include the release of two new CDs: WE ALL LOVE ELLA: CELEBRATING THE FIRST LADY OF SONG, which offers renditions of her well-known hits by today's leading pop, jazz, blues, and R&B artists, many of whom appear in the evening's program, and LOVE LETTERS FROM ELLA, a never-before-heard collection of songs featuring Ella and some of her favorite collaborators, including Count Basie, Joe Pass, and André Previn. Learn more about Ella's remarkable career, which began in the mid-1930s when she was discovered at an amateur talent contest held at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, in the biography. Find out which of her memorable songs are part of this special in the song list.