SINGER and voice teacher Debra Byrd has died. She was 72 years old.
The star died on Tuesday at her home in Los Angeles. She had been on hit shows like “The Voice” and “American Idol.”
Deadline says that the cause of Debra’s death has not been confirmed yet.
A number of famous people, including Barry Manilow, a longtime friend and coworker, have led moving tributes to Debra’s life.
Barry put up a sad post on his social media.
“I’ve never been this sad in my life.” He wrote, “I just can’t wrap my mind around the fact that Debra is no longer with me.”
“She was one of my best friends ever.” I’ll always miss you, my love.”
Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson, and Bob Dylan were just a few of the big stars that Debra had worked with.
Jennifer sent her condolences on X, which used to be Twitter.
“Heartbroken over the passing of Debra Byrd, the vocal coach on American Idol,” she said.
“She backed us up and gave us hope from the start!
“I’m thankful for everything she taught us.” She is deeply missed, but her music lives on through the work of many artists she inspired during her lifetime.
“Rest in peace, Debra,” she ended.
Jen got a lot of attention when she made it to the finals of American Idol in 2004 and worked with Debra.
Other graduates, like Clay Aiken, talked about how much Debra helped them.
“I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that no one was a better mentor, coach, teacher, or champion to us Idol contestants than Byrd was,” he said.
“No one was with us longer.”
“I’ll never forget how hard she drilled us to look straight into the camera and connect with the people watching at home.” She made a lot of people’s lives better. I’m so glad I got to be her friend.
DEBRA’S WORK
Debra was born in Cleveland, Ohio. She went to Kent State University before becoming a musician.
She got better at what she did in the Karamu and Dobama Theaters while she was in school.
As soon as she graduated, she joined Barry’s band and sang backup.
Their song “Street Singin’” made it to number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1976.
Barry set up the song for the singer who is backing him up.
Before moving to The Voice, where she cared for and helped the contestants, Debra worked on American Idol for 10 seasons.
WHAT WE’VE DONE
She has worked with many famous people, and in 2018 at the Academy Awards, she was in the choir for a performance of Mighty River.
It was in the middle of the 1980s and Bob Dylan was on tour with Hard to Handle: Bob Dylan in Concert. Debra was his coach there.
Band of the Hand, a song from 1986, was also made with Dylan, Stevie Nicks, and the late Tom Petty.
For movies like “The Lion King 1½,” “The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride,” and “Sister Act II,” she did the music.
NBC hired her to work on the vocal production for their 2019 Super Bowl tribute to Prince.
The star even went back to school and became chair of the vocal department at the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles.