Jo Stafford (born Jo Elizabeth Stafford, 12 November 1917, in Coalinga, California and died July 16, 2008 at Century City, California) was an American jazz and big band singer whose career spanned the late 1930s through the early 1960s. She was known especially as a fond favorite of name bandleaders during World War II and in the years immediately after. Stafford was greatly admired for the purity of her voice and was considered one of the most versatile vocalists of the era.