Awards and Honors

Ella Fitzgerald won many awards in her life time. Most of them are lined up in chronological order.  

1934
Won Amateur Night competition at the Apollo Theater
1935
Won one week of performing at the Harlem Opera House
1937
Top Female Vocalist, Down Beat magazine
1938
First No. 1 song, "A-Tisket, A-Tasket"
1954
Best Female Vocalist, Metronome magazine
Best Female Vocalist, Down Beat magazine

1956

All Star Female, Metronome magazine
1958
First Grammy awards held; won Best Female Vocal Performance for "The Irving Berlin Songbook" (album) and Best Individual Jazz Performance for "The Duke Ellington Songbook" (album)
1959
Grammy awards: Best Female Vocal Performance for "But Not For Me" and Best Individual Jazz Performance for "Ella Swings Lightly"
1960
Honorary membership to Alpha Kappa Alpha (African-American sorority)
Grammy awards: Best Female Vocal Performance for "Mack the Knife" and Best Female Vocal Performance (album) for "Ella in Berlin"
1962
Grammy award: Best Female Solo Vocal Performance for "Ella Swings Brightly With Nelson Riddle"
1965
Received first ASCAP  (American Society of Composers, Artists, and Publishers) award in recognition of an artist
1967
Grammy award: Bing Crosby Lifetime Achievement award
Honorary chairmanship of the newly formed Martin Luther King Foundation
1974
University of Maryland names its new theater and concert hall the Ella Fitzgerald Center for the Performing Arts
1976
Honorary Doctorate in Music from Dartmouth College
Grammy award: Best Jazz Vocal Performance for "Fitzgerald and Pass…Again" (album)
1979
Grammy award: Best Jazz Vocal Performance for "Fine and Mellow" (album)
Kennedy Center Honors
1980
Honorary Doctorate of Music from Howard University
Lord & Taylor Rose award for her outstanding contribution to music
Grammy award: Best Female Jazz Vocal Performance for "A Perfect Match; Ella and Basie" (album)
1981
Grammy award: Best Female Jazz Vocal Performance for "Digital III at Montreux" (album)
1982
Hasty Pudding Club Woman of the Year
1983
Peabody Award for Outstanding Contributions to Music in America
Grammy award: Best Female Jazz Vocal Performance for "The Best Is Yet to Come" (album)
1987
"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame
UCLA Medal for Musical Achievements
National Medal of Arts
1988
NAACP Image award for Lifetime Achievement
1990
Grammy award: Best Female Jazz Vocal Performance for All That Jazz (album)
Commander of Arts and Letters (France)
Honorary Doctor of Music from Princeton University