Cassidy felt pain in her hip and was scheduled for replacement surgery. During her pre-testing, an X-ray showed that the cancer had spread to her lungs. For her final concert, she sang "What a Wonderful World." At the time, Cassidy was undergoing aggressive chemotherapy. Two months later she was dead. Eva By Heart was released posthumously.
Bill Straw, president of Blix Street Records, became her fairy godfather. He received a tape of Cassidy's Blues Alley session. "It didn't take a genius to figure it out," he told The New York Times. "The moment I listened to that tape, I knew this was one of the best singers I'd ever heard." Blix Street released her first nationally distributed album in 1998. The popularity of Cassidy's music grew slowly. It hit big in Britain first, gaining attention from a spot on the BBC Radio 2's morning show. In late 2000, NPR's Morning Edition did a feature on Cassidy, followed by a program on Nightline that spring. Momentum kept building and Cassidy's story was shared by Billboard, Rolling Stone, and other publications. Olympic silver medalist Michelle Kwan used Cassidy's version of "Fields of Gold" in her 2002 exhibition program.
A greatest hits collection, The Best of Eva Cassidy, was released in 2012. All these years later, Cassidy's music lives on. Her rendition of "Time After Time" recently appeared on a Kay Jewelers ad, according to her website. She might be gone, but she's not forgotten.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunB%2BlmlrcW1fqbWmedOrmKChk2Kxpq3ToWSonl2aw6J5wpqqrKGUrnw%3D