Biography Wikipedia
Wikipedia:
Ellen Radka Toneff (25 June 1952 – 21 October 1982) was a Norwegian jazz singer. She is still considered one of Norway's most outstanding jazz singers.
A daughter of the Bulgarian folk singer Toni Toneff, she was born in Oslo and grew up in Lambertseter and Kolbotn.
She studied at Oslo Musikkonservatorium from 1971 to 1975. From 1975 to 1980, Arild Andersen, Jon Balke and Jon Eberson. among others, were members of the Radka Toneff Quintet. From 1979 she cooperated with Steve Dobrogosz. In 1980 she participated in the Norwegian national final of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Parken by Ole Paus.
She received the Spellemannsprisen 1977 in the category best vocal for the album Winter Poem, and she posthumously received the Norwegian Jazz Association's Buddy Prize in 1982. The Radka Toneff Memorial Award is based on a fund created with royalties from the albums Fairytales and Live in Hamburg.
Radka Toneff lived with bassist Arild Andersen for some years, though she was involved with jazz drummer Audun Kleive at the time of her death. She committed suicide.
A biography of Toneff was published in 2008.
In a poll of Norwegian musicians conducted by the newspaper Morgenbladet in November 2011, her 1979 album Fairytales was voted the best Norwegian album.
