Dee Dee Bridgewater
"I want to highlight the stories of hope from around the world. Remember that hunger is not a matter of charity. It is a matter of justice and solidarity.”
One of the best known jazz singers of her generation, Dee Dee Bridgewater was appointed FAO Goodwill Ambassador on 16 October 1999.
Born in Tennessee, in the United States, Dee Dee has received numerous awards in recognition of her outstanding music achievements, including the Jazz Academy Awards in 1988 and 1995, the Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Mérite and Officier des Arts et des Lettres. Fewer still have been rewarded with Broadway’s coveted Tony Award (Best Featured Actress in a Musical – The Wiz), nominated for the London theater’s West End equivalent, the Laurence Oliver Award (Best Actress in a Musical – Lady Day), won two Grammy Awards (1998’s Best Jazz Vocal Performance and Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocal for "Cottontail" – Slide Hampton, arranger – "Dear Ella "), and France’s 1998 top honor Victoire de la Musique (Best Jazz Vocal Album).
As an FAO Goodwill Ambassador, Ms Bridgewater visited projects operating under the Special Programme for Food Security in Senegal in December 1999 and since then has acted as an active and committed FAO advocate during various television programmes broadcast in particular by Radio France Internationale, Fox Morning News in New York etc.
In 2002 and 2003, she participated in the TeleFood concert organized in Madrid by Spanish Television RTVE, and was the guest of honour of the highly successful RAI television show La Cometa della Fortuna, entirely dedicated to raising funds for FAO.
In October 2003, on the occasion of the World Food Day celebrations in New York, a televised message by Dee Dee was projected for the audience in the Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium of the United Nations Building.
In August 2006, Ms. Bridgewater visited FAO field projects in Mali. Further to this mission covered widely by the media, Dee Dee recorded the album “Read Hearth – A Malian Project”, and decided to donate a percentage of the income of her Malian Project worldwide tour to FAO.
On 20 January 2009, Dee Dee represented FAO and gave a most appreciated statement on behalf of the Director-General on the occasion of President Barak Obama's inauguration in Washington D.C. (Health for All Blue Diamond Ball).
Dee Dee Bridgewater will be dedicating a concert in Shanghai, China, on 16 October, to FAO, as an awareness-raising activity. A pre-event, press conference with the presence of highest government authorities is also being organized.
