As a jazz singer, dancer, and actor, Bailey electrified stage, television, and film for over half a century.  In 1952, backed by Don Redman's Orchestra, Bailey's verison of Takes Two To Tango hit the top ten.

In 1985 she received the Presidential  Medal of Freedom from President Ronald Reagan. In 1989, she received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award. And in August of 1990 she collapsed in a hotel room in Philadelphia and died. She is greatly missed.