Adelaide Hall: First black BBC star's guitar being sold

Ms Hall starred in the BBC’s first global radio broadcast in 1939 and was a popular performer of the 1930s and 40s

A guitar owned by a famous Jazz singer who became the BBC's first black star, is being auctioned.

Adelaide Hall worked with artists such as Duke Ellington and was one of the first women of colour seen by BBC viewers after the Second World War.

Wiltshire auctioneers Gardiner Houlgate expect her 1936, Martin acoustic tenor guitar, to sell for at least £5,000.

Auctioneer Luke Hobbs said the guitar is "a direct link to the golden age of jazz".

"Her life sounds like the script for a film, beginning with the American jazz age, then a career in Paris before becoming one of Britain's most beloved entertainers," he said.

"She shared bills with Frank Sinatra, Fats Waller, Cab Calloway, Tony Bennett and she sang at Harlem's Cotton Club."

In 1943, the BBC gave Hall her own radio show, Wrapped In Velvet, making her the first black artist to have a long-term contract with the corporation and one of Britain's highest-paid entertainers at the time.

The guitar is expected to sell for £5,000

Hall, who died in 1993, was also the first black artist to perform in the Royal Variety Performance at London's Victoria Palace theatre in 1951.

In addition to working with musician Joe Loss and his Orchestra, she was a guest on the BBC's Michael Parkinson Show in 1981.

"Hers is a remarkable story and this guitar was present for much of it," he added.

The guitar will be sold on 9 March.