Velle

b. La Velle McKinnie, 22 May 1944, Kankakee, Illinois, USA. Born into a musical family, McKinnie was a child prodigy, singing at the age of three, taking piano lessons from four, and at five was a member of the Little Black Angels gospel group with who she appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. Six years later she was studying at Chicago's American Conservatory of Music. As a young teenager, she sang classical music including oratorios and opera, appearing in productions of Handel's Messiah, Verdi's Tosca, Puccini's Madame Butterfly, and Bizet's Carmen. Earning a living in music, h...