<P> Born Anita Margaret Esgandarian in Detroit , Michigan of Armenian descent . She was a 1945 graduate of Cooley High School . Anita later studied opera at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and the Juilliard School in New York , but first came to popular attention as a featured singer with the short - lived Sauter - Finegan jazz band of the mid-1950s , with whom she recorded for RCA Victor . She settled in New York City and worked in everything from opera and classical recitals to television jingles and cartoon voice - overs . She appeared in several television productions of musicals and operas from the 1950s to the 1970s . Anita also sang the female soprano portion on The Tokens ' 1961 # 1 hit `` The Lion Sleeps Tonight '' . Her high counterpoint to the lead and backup singers was an astounding merging of her operatic training and the pop genre . </P>
<P> Born Anita Margaret Esgandarian in Detroit , Michigan of Armenian descent . She was a 1945 graduate of Cooley High School . Anita later studied opera at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and the Juilliard School in New York , but first came to popular attention as a featured singer with the short - lived Sauter - Finegan jazz band of the mid-1950s , with whom she recorded for RCA Victor . She settled in New York City and worked in everything from opera and classical recitals to television jingles and cartoon voice - overs . She appeared in several television productions of musicals and operas from the 1950s to the 1970s . Anita also sang the female soprano portion on The Tokens ' 1961 # 1 hit `` The Lion Sleeps Tonight '' . Her high counterpoint to the lead and backup singers was an astounding merging of her operatic training and the pop genre . </P>
who sang the high part in the lion sleeps tonight
who sang the high part in the lion sleeps tonight
Anita Margaret Esgandarian
Anita Margaret Esgandarian