Donna Hightower
Donna Lubertha Hightower (December 28, 1926 – August 19, 2013) was an American R&B, soul and jazz singer and songwriter, who recorded and released albums for the Decca and Capitol labels. Later in her career she was based in Europe, where she had a hit in 1972 with "This World Today is a Mess." Biography Donna Hightower was born in Caruthersville, Missouri, to a family of sharecroppers. She listened to singers such as Ella Fitzgerald, but never planned to have a singing career and by the age of 23 had been married, had two children, and divorced. While working in a diner in Chicago, Hightower was heard singing by Bob Tillman, a reporter with the Chicago Defender newspaper, who then won her a booking as a singer at the Strand Hotel. Initially billed as Little Donna Hightower, she won a recording contract with Decca Records and recorded her first single, "I Ain't In The Mood", in 1951.<ref name=riley>Randall Riley (August 21, 2013). [http://www.typicallyspanish.com/spain-news/pr/Singer_Songwriter_Donna_Hightower_whose_1972_recording_of_This_World_Today_is_a_Mess_made_her_an_international_pop_star_died_August_19_2013_at_her_home_in_Austin_Texas_She_was_86.shtml Singer/Songwriter Donna Hightower, whose 1972 recording of “This World Today is a Mess” made her an international pop star] . TypicallySpanish.com. Retrieved August 22, 2013</ref> During the mid 1950s, Hightower recorded R&B songs for RPM Records, often