Jon Hendricks was a jazz vocalist best known for his rise to fame in the 1950s with the vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, when he added lyrics to well-known jazz instrumentals.

Hendricks did not invent this practice, known as vocalese, but he became its best-known and most prolific exponent, and he turned it into a group art.

His music has been heard on the soundtracks for the series To Tell the Truth, The Muppet Show, EastEnders and Agent Carter, as well as the films The Man Who Knew Too Little, The Wolf of Wall Street and Big Eyes.

Additionally, Hendricks performed on the Steve Allen Plymouth Show, The Jack Paar Tonight Show, NET Playhouse and Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and appeared in the 1992 film White Men Can’t Jump.

Hendricks died November 22, 2017, in Manhattan. He was 96.