Even if Ellington had limited himself to being a composer, he would deserve a reputation as one of the 20th century's best purely on the strength of “Mood Indigo” ... read more
Equally at home and equally revered in the Cotton Club and Carnegie Hall, if any musician ever defied categorization, it was Duke Ellington. Fifty years after becoming a household name, and without slowing down professionally until the very end, Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington died on May 24, 1974, at the age of 75. read more
In 2010 the triangular park, across the street from Duke Ellington's birth site, at the intersection of New Hampshire and M Streets, NW was named the Duke Ellington Park. Ellington's residence at 2728 Sherman Avenue, NW, during the years 1919–1922, is marked by a bronze plaque. read more
At the age of 19, Ellington married Edna Thompson, who had been his girlfriend since high school, and soon after their marriage, she gave birth to their only child, Mercer Kennedy Ellington. On May 24, 1974, at the age of 75, Duke Ellington died of lung cancer and pneumonia. read more