Originally named
Lillian Green or
Lillie May Johnson, which was later
covered by many artists, such as
Dinah Washington and
Nina Simone (in 1967) (
Billie Holiday recorded a different song with the same title), and Green's 1941 version of
Kansas Joe McCoy's
minor-key blues- and jazz-influenced song "
Why Don't You Do Right?", By 1949, Green had changed direction with the foresight to become a jazz vocalist, and tried to emulate the jazz style of
Billie Holiday. She signed with
Atlantic Records in 1951, but at this point was already in poor health. She died of
pneumonia in Chicago in April 1954 and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, in
Gary, Indiana. ==See also==