Nancy Wilson

Nancy Sue Wilson (February 20, 1937 – December 13, 2018) was an American singer whose career spanned over five decades, from the mid–1950s until her retirement in the early–2010s. She was notable for her single "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am" and her version of the standard "Guess Who I Saw Today". Wilson recorded more than 70 albums and won three Grammy Awards for her work. During her performing career Wilson was labeled a singer of blues, jazz, R&B, pop, and soul, a "consummate actress", and "the complete entertainer". The title she preferred, however, was "song stylist". She received many nicknames including "Sweet Nancy", "The Baby", "Fancy Miss Nancy" and "The Girl With the Honey-Coated Voice".
Nancy Sue Wilson was born on February 20, 1937 in Chillicothe, Ohio, the first of six children of Olden Wilson, an iron foundry worker, and Lillian Ryan, a maid. Wilson's father would buy records to listen to at home. At an early age Wilson heard recordings from Billy Eckstine, Nat King Cole, and Jimmy Scott with Lionel Hampton's Big Band. Wilson says: "The juke joint down on the block had a great jukebox and there I heard Dinah Washington, Ruth Brown, LaVerne Baker, Little Esther". Wilson became aware of her talent while singing in church choirs, imitating singers as a young child, and performing in her grandmother's house during summer visits. By the age of four, she knew she would eventually become a singer.

At the age of 15, now attending Columbus, Ohio's West High School, Wilson won a talent contest sponsored by the local ABC television station WTVN. The prize was an appearance on a twice-a-week television show, Skyline Melodies, which she later hosted. She also worked clubs on the east side and north side of Columbus, Ohio, from the age of 15 until she graduated from West High School at age 17. Unsure of her future as an entertainer, she entered college to pursue teaching. She spent one year at Ohio's Central State College (now Central State University) before dropping out and following her original ambitions. She auditioned and won a spot with Rusty Bryant's Carolyn Club Big Band in 1956. She toured with them throughout Canada and the Midwest in 1956 to 1958. While in this group, Wilson made her first recording under Dot Records.
Wilson married her first husband, drummer Kenny Dennis, in 1960. They had a son Kenneth ("Kacy") Dennis Jr., but by 1970 they divorced. On May 22, 1973, Wilson married a Presbyterian minister, Reverend Wiley Burton, within a month of meeting. She gave birth to Samantha Burton in 1975, and the couple adopted Sheryl Burton in 1976. As a result of her marriage, she abstained from performing in various venues, such as supper clubs. For the following two decades, she successfully juggled her personal life and her career. In November 1998, both of her parents died; she called this year the most difficult of her life.

In August 2006, Wilson was hospitalized with anemia and potassium deficiency, and was on I.V. sustenance while undergoing a complete battery of tests. She was unable to attend the UNCF Evening of Stars Tribute to Aretha Franklin and had to cancel the engagement. All of her other engagements were on hold pending doctors’ reports.

In March 2008, she was hospitalized for lung complications, recovered, and reported to be doing well. In the same year, her husband, Wiley Burton, died after suffering from renal cancer. On December 13, 2018, Wilson died at her home in Pioneertown, California. She was 81 years old.

"(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am" is a song written by Jimmy Williams and Larry Harrison. In the USA, its best-known recorded version is that by Nancy Wilson, a hit single for her, in the summer of 1964. The single went to No. 11 on the Hot 100, as well as No. 2 on the Billboard Pop-Standard Singles chart. Wilson, who had been recording since 1960, was afforded her first Top 40 hit with "...How Glad I Am":

(Nancy Wilson quote:)"I went into the studio with the idea of recording a Top 40 kind of hit [with '...How Glad I Am']. Actually though I didn't sing any differently.....It's the material itself that did it [along with] the arrangement."
In April 1965 "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am" received the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording: Wilson was reportedly surprised by the categorization of "...How Glad I Am" as R&B as she would have classed it as a pop record, and the track had not been a major R&B hit peaking at No. 45 on the Cash Box R&B chart (the Billboard R&B chart was dormant throughout 1964).

Nancy Wilson would have one more Top 40 hit subsequent to "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am": "Face It Girl, It's Over", which reached No. 29 in 1968.

Here is "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am" Capitol Records ‎– ST-2155 1964 Enjoy.