Billie Holiday | Artist

Eleanora Fagan aka Billie Holiday, was an American jazz singer born 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner Lester Young, Holiday had a career spanning nearly thirty years and was a seminal influence on jazz music and pop singing. As a young teenager, Holiday started singing in nightclubs in Harlem and was spotted by the producer John Hammond and signed to the Brunswick Records label in 1935. She delivered many hit records and was picked up by the more prestigious Columbia label. She continued to sell records and perform sell-out concerts, including Carnegie Hall on several occasions, however her personal life was marred by drug abuse for which she served prison sentences. Her autobiography "Lady Sings The Blues" touched on her difficult upbringing and was made into a movie starring Diana Ross in 1972. Holiday died of liver failure in 1959 with only $1,000 to her name but posthumously her work was re-appraised and received the recognition it deserved. In 1961 she was voted to the Down Beat Hall Of Fame and soon after Columbia reissued nearly a hundred of her early records. Outstanding albums include Lady Sings the Blues, Body and Soul, Songs for Distingué Lovers, Lady in Satin, All or Nothing at All and Carnegie Hall Concert Live.

Artist Website: billieholiday.com

Featured Albums: Billie Holiday

Related Artists: Ella Fitzgerald, Paul Whiteman Orchestra