Dale, my friend Noel and I went to go see Rosemary Clooney at Orchestra Hall in December 2001. The orchestra played the first half and Rosie sang with the orchestra backing her the second half. When we got back to our seats after intermission we noticed a chair had been set by the piano. Now, we saw her do a Christmas performance a few years earlier where she used a stool to sit on for support from time to time which made sense because she was about 71 years old. Having to sit for a performance is not something I'd seen a performer do before so this did not look good. When the show started she had help walking to her chair and did indeed end up sitting the whole performance. She was in fairly good spirits but was nowhere near the energy level I was used to. She mentioned to the audience that she had recently been to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester for test and that she was fine. I assumed she was just under the weather and, being a trouper, felt that the show must go on. Sadly, she passed away early in 2002. She was just shy of 74 years old.
