Cleo Laine, Grammy winner and Britain's most successful jazz singer, dies aged 97

Cleo Laine, the UK's most successful and celebrated jazz singer, has died aged 97, her family has announced.

- Ben Beaumont-Thomas

The Grammy-winning performer's children, Jacqui and Alec, said yesterday: "It is with deepest sadness that we announce the passing of our dearly beloved mother, Cleo, who died peacefully yesterday.

"We will all miss her terribly. The family wish to be given space to grieve and ask for privacy at this very difficult time."

Laine was famed for a decades-long collaboration with her husband, the composer and musician John Dankworth, singing with his jazz bands from the mid-1950s onwards.

But she also had a stellar solo career, including in the US, where she became the only female artist to be nominated for Grammy awards in pop, jazz and classical categories.