Tommy edwards biography cause of death

Early Years

Thomas Jefferson Edwards was born on October 15, 1922, in Henrico County and was the son of Thomas Jefferson Edwards (1881–1958) and Buena Vista Williams Edwards. Until he was almost six years old he lived in Hanover County, where his father served as principal of the Virginia Manual Labor School for Colored Boys (later the Hanover Juvenile Correctional Center).

In 1928 the family moved to Henrico County, where Edwards attended the Virginia Randolph Training School.

Tommy Edwards - WBSS Media

For approximately a year beginning in October 1939 he sang and played piano on his own fifteen-minute radio show that aired twice weekly on WRNL. By 1943 Edwards had moved to New York City. Lodging at the Harlem Young Men’s Christian Association, he peddled his songs in the Tin Pan Alley district and on Broadway. By April of that year Edwards had signed with the General Amusement Corporation and soon was performing in nightclubs and lounges in the Northeast and Midwest.

Neither of two tracks he recorde Tommy Edwards (1922-1969) - Find a Grave Memorial REL