Amelia ("Amy") van Singel (October 11, 1949 – September 19, 2016) was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

journalist and radio host. She co-founded '' Living Blues'' magazine with her then-husband, Jim O'Neal, and was posthumously inducted to the

Blues Hall of Fame The Blues Hall of Fame is a music museum operated by the Blues Foundation at 421 S. Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Initially, the "Blues Hall of Fame" was not a physical building, but a listing of people who have significantly contributed to b ...

in 2017.

Life and career

Amy van Singel was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, the daughter of a bank executive, and grew up in the suburb of

Hinsdale, Illinois Hinsdale is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County. It is one of the wealthiest communities in Illinois. Hinsdale is a western suburb of Chicago with a population of 17,395 ...

. After hearing records by British R&B bands such as

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

in her teens, she developed a love of blues music and occasionally worked at Bob Koester's Jazz Record Mart. She attended Hinsdale Township High School, and enrolled at Endicott College in

Beverly, Massachusetts Beverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, and a suburb of Boston. The population was 42,670 at the time of the 2020 United States census. A resort, residential, and manufacturing community on the Massachusetts North Sho ...

in 1967, transferring to

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

in 1968. There, she met fellow blues fan Jim O'Neal, and began broadcasting on WNUR, where she became known as "Atomic Mama". She and O'Neal married in 1970. They started interviewing local

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the fi ...

musicians, and, with others, founded ''Living Blues'' the same year. Graydon Megan, "Amy van Singel, blues aficionado, radio host, dies at 66", ''Chicago Tribune'', October 19, 2016
/ref> O'Neal said: "We embarked on a mission to bring recognition to the blues originators and the living African American blues tradition, first with some interviews we sent to '' Blues Unlimited''.... I didn’t have to hide my record-buying habit from my wife. We shared in that pursuit and just about everything else, loving the blues and our life together. We decided not to have children, but poured our energy into birthing and parenting ''Living Blues''." "Amy van Singel", ''Living Blues''
/ref> She and O'Neal published the magazine from their home in Chicago until 1983, when production moved to

Oxford, Mississippi Oxford is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, 14th most populous city in Mississippi, United States, and the county seat of Lafayette County, Mississippi, Lafayette County, southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis. A college town, Oxford ...

. She also had a radio show on WXFM in the early 1970s. The couple remained in Chicago until 1986; they divorced the following year. Van Singel moved to Oxford, and then to

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, where she also had a radio show. Later, she moved to

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...

, where she again had her own radio show, for ten years. She remarried and moved to

Ellsworth, Maine Ellsworth is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Maine, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 Census determined it had a population of 8,399. Named after Founding Fathers of the United States, United States Foundi ...

, in 2010. She died in her home there in 2016, aged 66. She was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2017. Amy van Singel, ''Blues Hall of Fame''
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singel, Amy van 1949 births 2016 deaths American radio DJs American music journalists American women journalists American women radio hosts 21st-century American women