She began her career performing as a band act with Johnny Otis and Duke Ellington before joining Cab Calloway's Cotton Club Revue.
[5] During her gig, Blair's electrifying performances captivated her audiences especially during her closing number of "That Old Black Magic" when she would kick off her shoes.
Blair received rave reviews, but despite offers of a raise, she left the revue while they were in Las Vegas because she "found the treatment of colored artists too objectionable to stay.
"[1] Blair sang the role of Serena in the jazz version of George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess, released by Bethlehem Records in 1956.
[10] That summer, Ed Sullivan signed her to appear on his variety show televised from the Desert Inn in Las Vegas from Jul 1 to 28.
The album was chosen as one of Billboard's spotlight winners of the week (November 3, 1958): "A striking cover (featuring the sultry thrush on a tiger-skin rug) gives this package sock display value; while the canary's sexy, intimate vocalizing makes the LP's sure-fire Jockey programming.
[16] Early in Blair's career, the press referred to her as the "blonde bombshell," but by 1963, when she appeared at her nightclub gig at New York's Living Room, she was sporting dark brown hair and her stage persona became more sophisticated.
Blair spent three weeks in the intensive care unit shortly before returning to her mother's apartment where she died at the age of 57 on February 17, 1992.