Jeri Southern
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Genevieve Lillian Hering stage-name Jeri Southern (born August 5 , 1926 near Royal, Nebraska; died August 4, 1991 in Los Angeles) was a jazz pianist and singer. She began playing at age three, and at age six started formal study in classical piano. She studied classical piano and voice in Omaha, Nebraska where she became interested in jazz.
Her career in began with work in hotels and with a United States Navy recruiting tour. In the late 1940s she worked in Chicago clubs where she once was a supporting vocalist for Anita O'Day. She became known for what might be deemed torch songs.
She signed with Decca Records in 1951 and became known both for pop and jazz. The 1950s saw her at the height of her importance. In that decade she sang in a few films and in 1957 she had a top 30 hit with "Fire Down Below." After her switch to Capitol Records she had success doing interpretations of Cole Porter with Billy May arranging some of the more humorous examples.
In the 1960s she gave up music to teach and later moved to Hollywood to work on film composing with Hugo Friedhofer. She also wrote Interpreting Popular Music At The Keyboard during her final years. She died of pneumonia in 1991.
