Beverly Kenney (January 29, 1932, Harrison, New Jersey – April 13, 1960, Greenwich Village, New York City) was an American jazz singer.
[4] Her big break came in October 1955, when she was featured in a Jazz Benefit concert for Israel at Carnegie Hall, sharing the bill with Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Tito Puente, and Marian McPartland.
She earned a standing gig at Birdland with Lester Young, and upon her debut at New York's Basin Street Club, DownBeat critic Nat Hentoff praised her as compared to other artists.
"[10] In a review of her 1959 album Born to be Blue, editor Allan Gilbert Jr. said of Kenney "...she has the ability to gently, huskily slur, warp and mould her phrasing to achieve rare individuality" and that she "could be tomorrow's big name.
"[11] Kenney attempted suicide twice and succeeded the third time ingesting a combination of alcohol and Seconal on April 12, 1960, in a one-room apartment in the University Residence Hotel located at 45 East 11th Street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York.