Ida passed away on the morning of March 1, 2023 after an extended illness.
Celebration of Life concert
Saturday, March 11, 2023, 1pm
Gem Theater
18th & Vine Jazz District, KC, MO [ directions ]
Memorial Services
Monday, March 13, 2023, 11am
Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church
2310 E Linwood Blvd, KC, MO [ directions ]
Visitation will begin at 10am
There’s a quiet storm in Kansas City. And it swirls around the captivating, elegant, mystifying and delightful music of singer Ida McBeth.
Ida’s musical style is so unique that it is hard to classify. Over the years, her repertoire has included pop-style ballads, jazz and blues, show tunes, funk, R&B, gospel and well known standards.
Critics have described her as “a jazz singer,” “a blues singer,” “a pop singer” and “a cabaret singer.” Still others have referred to her as “a story teller,” “a professor emeritus of body language,” “a consummate actress” and “the complete entertainer.” A song stylist is the title Ida prefers.
By the age of five, Ida McBeth knew she wanted to be a singer. Born in Kansas City, Kansas, Ida was provided early exposure to a variety of talented vocalists by her mother. These singers included such greats as Nancy Wilson, Arthur Prysock, Nat King Cole, Bill Withers, Gladys Knight and Sarah Vaughan.
As a child, Ida took an active part in the music program of her church along with school choirs and dance bands. Her professional singing career began at the age of 16. After graduating from high school, however, Ida was undecided about a career in music, so she enrolled at Kansas University to study for her nursing credentials.
In 1972, Ida’s desire to be a singer outweighed any previous doubts about a career as a musician. She followed her aspirations and left college to join Dick Halligan (“Blood, Sweat & Tears”) and soon recorded her first album in Los Angeles.
Ida moved to California in 1973, allotting herself six months to attain her goals. Within four weeks of her arrival, she was booked to sing six nights a week at a nightclub in Bel Air.
Over the years, Ida McBeth has received many honors and awards. In 1984, she was named by the Kansas City-based International Jazz Hall of Fame as both “Best Female Jazz Vocalist” and “Entertainer of the Year.” In 1990 Kansas City Mayor Richard Berkeley awarded her a special proclamation designating April 27, 1990 as “Ida McBeth’s 20th Anniversary Day.” And also in 1990, Ida was named as one of Kansas City’s “People of the Year” by Ingram’s Magazine. Most recently, Ida’s outstanding achievements have included performing the national anthem for the presidential nomination of Al Gore at the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, Kansas City’s birthday bash at Arrowhead Stadium with Kenny Rodgers and Walter Cronkite, as well as performing at the Smithsonian Institute in 2001. Ida was Crowned Queen of the Kansas City, Kansas Blues Street Festival for 2005 and given the key to the city. And she was voted “Best of R&B / Soul” in the Pitch Readers Poll for for both 2004 and 2005.
Never one to rest on her laurels, Ida McBeth gives much of her time and talent to various charities and community services. She has worked with the American Cancer Society, the Nova Center for autistic children, and the Stop Violence Coalition, and the American Diabetes Association to name but a few.
And in addition to her performance and charity work, Ida is also the mother of one healthy and handsome son, Jason. Jason was diagnosed with autism, at birth, 22 years ago.
Today, some 30 years and five albums later, the critics still laud the talents of Ida McBeth. The New York Times applauded her “technique, taste and sass… her precise intuition, guts and raw confidence.” And Ida’s lithesome vocals continue to embrace the subtleties of jazz, pop, blues and soul, both in her home base of Kansas City and on the road.
Ida’s dynamic and magical style is like a light that shines brightly in the world of music, a light that grows constantly brighter with the passage of time.
Ida McBeth: song stylist extraordinaire.
Come, listen… and be “Ida-lized”!!!
“McBeth can rear back and howl with the best of them, but she comes through most profoundly on her quieter ballads, where you can hear every ripple, catch and inflection in her voice.”
–THE KANSAS CITY STAR
“Three words: Fab u lous.”
–KC PITCH
“First there’s the voice. No escaping this one. A soul-powered cruise missile aimed straight for the heart…”
–THE KANSAS CITY STAR
“McBeth is a singer who needs a room full of ears. And eyes. With plenty of heart and soul.”
–ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
Ida in New Orleans“Dignity, talent and finesse: Ida McBeth classes up the whole scene…”
–KC PITCH
“…an electrifying blues and jazz singer… Ida McBeth knows how to move an audience, driving it to stomp and dance with a saucy rhythm and blues number, or quieting everyone down with a soft jazz ballad. Her sound is both gutsy and modern…”
–THE NEW YORK TIMES
“Make a pilgrimage to see this woman before those wiser than us on the coasts lure her away.”
–KC PITCH
Bronze Sidewalk Medallion Award Honoree
AMERICAN JAZZ MUSEUM WALK OF FAME, KANSAS CITY, MO., 2017
Lifetime Achievement Award
AMERICAN JAZZ MUSEUM, KANSAS CITY, MO., 2016
“Most Favorite Kansas Citizen”
–PITCH “BEST OF KANSAS CITY” READER’S POLL, 2000
“Best Female Vocalist”
–THE KANSAS CITY/LAWRENCE AREA MUSIC AWARDS 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
“Best of Kansas City: Entertainment & Culture”
–INGRAM’S MAGAZINE, 1999
“Best Female Vocalist”
–PITCH READER’S POLL, 1991-99
“Best Blues Act”
–THE NOTE, KC PITCH, 1990-1996
“Best Blues Vocalist”
“One of 100 Most Influential African-Americans”
–KC GLOBE, 1992
One of Kansas City’s “People of the Year”
–INGRAM’S MAGAZINE, 1990
“Ida McBeth’s 20th Anniversary Day: April 26, 1990”
–KANSAS CITY MAYOR RICHARD BERKELEY
“A Uniquely Kansas City Entertainer Award”
–THE SQUIRE, 1988
“Best Female Jazz Vocalist”
–KANSAS CITY INTERNATIONAL JAZZ HALL OF FAME, 1984
“Entertainer of the Year”