The American opera singer Shirley Verrett (born 31 May 1931) is a mezzo-soprano who has enjoyed great fame since the late 1960s, much admired for her radiant voice and great versatility. In 1957, Verrett made her operatic debut in Britten's Lucretia. In 1958, she made her New York City Opera debut as Irina in Kurt Weill’s Lost in the Stars. In 1959, she made her European debut in Cologne in Nabokov's Rasputins Tod. In 1962, she received critical acclaim for her Carmen in Spoleto, and repeated the role at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1963, the NY City Opera in 1964, and La Scala in 1966. In 1968, she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1968, also with Carmen. Verrett first appeared at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1973. Verrett's roles included Dido, Leonora in La Favorita Gluck's Orpheus, Amneris, and Selika in L'africaine. Beginning in the late 1970s she began to tackle soprano roles, including Tosca, Norma, Lady Macbeth, and Aida.