Reese moved on to RCA Records in 1959 and released the single “ Don’t You Know? ” which was based on music from Puccini’s opera La Bohème. The song reached No. 2 on the pop charts.

Della Reese, best known as the boss of a band of divine messengers on the 1990s TV series Touched By an Angel but started her career decades earlier as an earthy pop singer, died on Nov. 19. She was ...