Joe Williams [ tickets ], Grammy award-winning vocalist who became a jazz icon after singing for the Count Basie Band in the 50's, died Monday (3/31) in Las Vegas after leaving a hospital to try and walk home. The singer was being hospitalized for acute obstructive pulmonary disease, according to hospital officials.

Reuters reports that the singer told hospital staffers on Monday that he was going outside for a moment. When he failed to return, police were notified and began a search. The singer had apparently walked about two miles in the direction of his Las Vegas home before collapsing and dying in the street.

Williams made several attempts to support himself singing as a young man in Chicago, before taking a job as a security guard at the Regal Theatre and meeting a number of touring acts. The theatre's manager is said to have put him in touch with Lionel Hampton, after which Williams worked with a number of key big band and swing acts, cementing his reputation as a powerful baritone singer capable of effectively handling a wide spectrum of material.

Williams won a 1985 Grammy award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for his album Nothin' But The Blues. He is survived by his wife and two children.