found: African American National Biography, accessed June 08, 2015, via Oxford African American Studies Center database:(Brown, Ada; 'Queen of the Blues'; stage / screen actor, blues musician / singer; born 01 May 1890 in Kansas City, Kansas, United States; performer at Bob Mott's Pekin Theater in Chicago (1910); joined Bennie Moten's band and sang the blues (1920s); left the band for the East Coast's vaudeville theater circuit (late 1920s); toured with the shows Step on It and Struttin' Time (1922, 1924); made second record, including Panama Limited Blues and Tia Juana Man; stage appearances at Harlem's Lafayette Theatre included Plantation Days, Bandannaland, and Tan Town Tamales (1927, 1928, 1930); sang with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra at the Grand Terrace Café (1936); helped found the Negro Actors Guild of America in New York City; first and only film appearance was Stormy Weather, which became a cinematic survey of African American entertainment (1943); died 31 March 1950 in Kansas City, Kansas, United States)