William James "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording.

How did Count Basie die?

Count Basie, the jazz pianist whose spare, economic keyboard style and supple rhythmic drive made his orchestra one of the most influential groups of the Big Band era, died of cancer yesterday morning at Doctors' Hospital in Hollywood, Fla. He was 79 years old and lived in Freeport, the Bahamas.

When did Count Basie Diane die?

He's survived by his disabled daughter, Diane, who was allegedly the victim of a robbery at the hands of her late father's friend. Basie was married in two occasions, first to Vivian Lee Winn from 1930 to 1935, and later to Catherine Morgan, from 1940 until her death in 1983.