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Daisy Tapley

1882–1925

United States

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Biography

Daisy Tapley (1882–1925) was a classical singer (Contralto) and vaudeville performer. Born Daisy Robinson in Big Rapids, Michigan, she was raised in Chicago, where she played piano and the organ with music teachers Emil Liebling, Clarence Eddy, and later with Pedro Tinsley. At age twelve She became the featured organist at Chicago's Quinn Chapel as a musical prodigy. As a teenager, Robinson began training her voice after listening to recordings of the British contralto, Clara Butt. Daisy made history on December 7, 1910, when she became the first African American female to be recorded commercially, in a duet with Carroll Clark.

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Black heritage reference ↗

Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-20

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