Jane Little, who had been recognized by Guinness World Records as the longest tenured orchestra musician in the world, collapsed on stage and died May 15 while playing a medley of Broadway showtunes for an Atlanta Symphony Orchestra pops concert, according to The Washington Post.
Little, 87, was about 30 seconds from the end of the Irving Berlin song “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” being played as an encore, when she collapsed. She was carried backstage by her fellow bassists.
No cause of death was reported, though the story said Little was undergoing chemotherapy for multiple myeloma, a form of bone marrow cancer.
The song contains the lyric “You get word before the show has started/That your favorite uncle died at dawn/Top of that, your pa and ma have parted/ You're broken-hearted, but you go on.”
Little debuted as a bassist with the ASO February 4, 1945, at age 16. The Symphony announced that this weekend's performances will be dedicated to her memory.
Our performances this weekend are dedicated to the memory of Jane Little. https://t.co/gJlXB3oNix pic.twitter.com/r2uKdOwjQb
— Atlanta Symphony (@AtlantaSymphony) May 16, 2016