Legendary Chicago singer-songwriter Ella Jenkins dies at 100 – NBC Chicago

Chicago-born singer-songwriter Ella Jenkins, who delighted children with her incredible music for decades, has died at the age of 100, her publicist announced.

Jenkins inspired generations of children through her unique performance style and left an incredible legacy created throughout her musical career spanning more than 70 years.

According to her publicist, Jenkins died Saturday evening at a North Side apartment complex.

Jenkins became known as the “First Lady of Children’s Music.” Jenkins popularized the call-and-response technique to promote group singing and develop children’s memory and musical skills.

She said she was inspired by listening to Cab Callaway as a child.

Their first recording, “Call and Response rhythmic group singing,” was released in 1957. Since then, Jenkins has written and recorded hundreds of children’s songs, including classics like “You Sing a Song, I’ll Sing a Song” and “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.”

Jenkins was born in St. Louis, but when she was very young her family moved to the South Side of Chicago.

Prior to her career as a children’s folk singer, Jenkins nurtured her talent for singing with children by studying child psychology at San Francisco State University and also working with children at home at the YWCA. She performed in folk clubs in Chicago and got a job hosting a show on WTTW called “Totem Club.”

She was also a frequent contributor to “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” and “Sesame Street.” Although Jenkins had no formal training, he played the harmonica, ukulele, organ and various percussion instruments. She was also a composer and was honored by the Recording Academy in 2004 with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award the following year.

In 2005, she was nominated for two Grammys for “Sharing Cultures with Ella Jenkins” and “Ella Jenkins and a Union of Friends Pulling Together.”