Vienna, Austria - The American opera singer Grace Bumbry has died at age 86 in a hospital in her chosen hometown of Vienna, Austria, her adopted son David Brewer told dpa on Monday.

The mezzo-soprano and soprano was the first Black woman to sing at the Richard Wagner Festival in Bayreuth, Germany, in 1961, and became a trailblazer for other Black women in opera.

Bumbry was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on January 4, 1937, into a musical family.

After winning a singing contest run by a local radio station, she later trained as a singer, earning scholarships along the way.

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In 1959, Bumbry gave her first concert in London, and a year later, she celebrated her opera debut in Paris.

Many more appearances followed, with her signature roles including Salome in Strauss' eponymous work, as Lady Macbeth, and as Princess Eboli in Don Carlos.