Jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald's 96th birthday commemorated with Google doodle Google today honoured jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald with a doodle on its homepage. The doodle is published on what would have been her 96th birthday and shows the singer, also known as 'Queen of Jazz', 'The First Lady of Song' and 'Lady Ella', performing on stage with a band and 'Google' emblazoned on the backdrop. The singer was born on 25 April 1917 and died on 15 June 1996 at the age of 79. She made her first recording in 1936 when she was just 17. She enjoyed a highly successful career that spanned six decades and saw her win 13 Grammy awards. The prolific singer recorded more than 200 albums and notched up sales of over 40m with a repertoire that included jazz, show tunes, bossa nova and opera. Her series of Songbook albums, which celebrated songwriters such as Duke Ellington, Cole Porter and the Gershwins, won her particular acclaim. Her final concert at New York's Carnegie Hall in 1991 topped a glittering career.