I'm embarrassed at how long it took me to notice this news;
Ms. Norman died 30 September 2019.

Her prime days of singing had been over for years.
Her health problems had increased, however.
A very private person, she allowed very little of her troubles
to be reported by the press.

In the statement given by her family to mass media,
the year 2015 is cited as the year of a "spinal cord injury."
In fact, Jessye Norman sat for an interview with the Financial Times that year;
the journalist noted that Norman walked with a cane because of a "back problem."
In 2017 she canceled appearances, undergoing back surgery, followed by physical therapy.

That same year, she moved from the stately home in Westchester County that had previously been owned by "Candid Camera" 's Allen Funt,
and auction notices for the contents of the home notified the public of her relocation. The notice did not say where she was going.

The family statement explains that the injury sustained in 2015 led to complications, and the consequence was her death from septic shock and multi-organ failure,
which sounds like the stuff of an ordeal.

African-American singer Grace Ann Bumbry is still alive at 82,
and Bumbry preceded Norman in singing Wagnerian roles on the stage;
yet Norman made a big splash in Wagner early in her career,
and was especially noted for German lieder as well as German opera.

Jessye Norman's passing leaves a great void.
There is more I could say about Norman;
another post is needed for all the rest of it.