B.J. Crosby

B.J. Crosby, born Joanne Crayton on November 23, 1952, in New Orleans, Louisiana, was an American actress, singer, and jazz vocalist who performed professionally under the names B.J. Crosby and Lady BJ. She died on March 27, 2015, at age 62, from complications of diabetes and a stroke, following hospitalization at Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans. She was survived by her son, Joseph Elloie, and six grandchildren.

Crosby began her musical life singing in church choirs and performing in local theaters throughout the 1970s and 1980s. During the late 1970s, she served as lead singer of an R&B and jazz ensemble called Spectrum. In the mid-1980s, she collaborated with Ellis Marsalis Jr. and Germaine Bazzle on an album titled The New Orleans Music, released on Rounder Records. Her 1984 cable television special, Lady BJ Sings Lady Day: A Tribute to Billie Holiday, earned a CableACE Award. In 1987, she relocated to Los Angeles to pursue singing and acting, supporting herself by recording demo versions of songs for professional songwriters.

Crosby moved to New York City in 1995 and made her Broadway debut in Smokey Joe's Cafe, the production identified in her credits as Cafe. Her performance, which included solo parts on the songs Hound Dog and Fools Fall in Love, earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She also appeared on the production's official Broadway cast album, which won a Grammy Award. In 1996, she was invited to perform How Long Has This Been Going On? at the Royal Albert Hall in London as part of Who Could Ask for Anything More?, a concert marking the centenary of Ira Gershwin's birth.

Her subsequent Broadway work included starring as Matron Mama Morton in the 1996 revival of Chicago and playing Ma Reed in the 2002 Broadway debut of One Mo' Time. Her national tour credits included Dreamgirls, in which she was cast as Effie. She also appeared on Broadway in The Civil War and the play Time, with her Broadway career spanning from 1995 to 2002.

Outside the theater, Crosby had guest roles on television programs including Ally McBeal, The Cosby Show, Family Matters, Gimme a Break!, Law & Order, and Mad About You. In 2007, she released her first solo album, Best of Your Heart, produced by Judge Elloie, which included both original material and cover versions of songs associated with Tony Bennett, Betty Carter, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joe Sample, and Stevie Wonder. That same month, she performed as a featured vocalist at a jazz cafe in Istanbul, Turkey. Crosby returned to New Orleans in 2007. On June 17, 2008, doctors diagnosed her with a stroke following a Father's Day concert performance two days earlier, an event that permanently diminished her singing voice and reduced mobility on the right side of her body. Her health declined further in late 2014 and early 2015, leading to her death in March 2015.