Cassandra Wilson, the two-time Grammy-winning jazz vocalist celebrated for her deep, smoky contralto and genre-spanning interpretations, has died at the age of 70. Her manager, Robert Torre, confirmed she "transitioned peacefully at home, surrounded by family, close friends, and her manager" on Wednesday, though no cause of death was given. Wilson was widely regarded as one of the most distinctive and innovative voices in modern jazz, known for reshaping standards and covering artists as varied as Neil Young, U2 and Van Morrison.

Born in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1955 to a jazz-guitarist father, Wilson began playing piano at six and guitar at 12 before turning professional in her late teens. She co-founded the influential M-Base Collective with saxophonist Steve Coleman after moving to New York in 1982, and released her acclaimed Blue Note debut, Blue Light 'til Dawn, in 1992. Over a career spanning albums such as New Moon Daughter (1995), Traveling Miles (1999) and her final solo record Coming Forth by Day (2015), she collaborated with figures including Wynton Marsalis, the Roots, John Legend and Ravi Coltrane.