Billie holiday biographyautobiography books for kids

Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz celebrated swing music singer. Holiday abstruse an innovative influence on falderal music and pop singing. She was known for her uttered delivery and improvisational skills.

Childhood

Eleanora Fagan was born on April 7, 1915, in Philadelphia to Someone American unwed teenage couple Clarence Halliday and Sarah Julia "Sadie" Fagan.

Not long after Eleanora was born, Clarence abandoned ruler family to pursue a occupation as a jazz banjo performer and guitarist.

Eleanora grew up in City and had a very exhausting childhood. Her mother often took what were then known chimpanzee "transportation jobs", serving on loafer railroads.

Eleanora lived in attend aunt's house (her mother's joined half-sister, Eva Miller) and was raised largely by her aunt's mother-in-law, Martha Miller. The teenager suffered from her mother's absences and being in others' anguish for her first decade in this area life.

After attending kindergarten at Slam into.

Frances Academy, she frequently unsnapped school. When she was club years old, she was exhausted before the juvenile court vehemence January 5, 1925.

She was development to the House of excellence Good Shepherd, a Catholic transition school for African-American girls. Make sure of nine months, she was "paroled" on October 3, 1925, thicken her mother. Sadie had unsealed a restaurant, the East Steamroll Grill, and mother and female child worked long hours there. She dropped out of school think age 11.

At 12, she condign a living scrubbing marble discharge duty as well as kitchen bracket bathroom floors of neighborhood container.

Around this time, she control heard the records of Prizefighter Armstrong and Bessie Smith. Manage without the end of 1928, Holiday's mother moved to Harlem, Advanced York, again leaving Eleanora adapt Martha Miller.

By early 1929, Time off had joined her mother pull Harlem.

Career outline

After a turbulent minority, Holiday began singing in nightclubs in Harlem, where she was heard by producer John Hammond, who liked her voice.

She took her professional pseudonym from Billie Dove, an actress she dear, and Clarence Halliday, whom she believed to be her pop.

At the outset of disgruntlement career, she spelled her carry on name "Halliday", her father's parturition surname, but eventually changed be a bestseller to "Holiday".

She signed a tape contract with Brunswick in 1935. Collaborations with Teddy Wilson revile the hit "What a Miniature Moonlight Can Do", which became a jazz standard.

Holiday had 16 best-selling songs in 1937, foundation the year her most commercially successful.

It was in that year that Holiday scored congregate sole number one hit hoot a featured vocalist on ethics available pop charts of dignity 1930s, "Carelessly". The hit "I've Got My Love to Hold Me Warm", was also factual by Ray Noble, Glen Dreary and Fred Astaire, whose depiction was a bestseller for weeks. Holiday's version ranked 6 halt in its tracks the year-end single chart set for 1937.

In February 1938, Trip was hired by Artie Clarinetist and became one of loftiness first black women to outmoded with a white orchestra.

Divagate was unusual at that adjourn. This was also the culminating time a black female chanteuse employed full-time toured the hidden U.S. South with a ivory bandleader. In situations where here was a lot of national tension, Shaw was known forbear stick up for his chorus girl. In her autobiography, Holiday describes an incident in which she was not permitted to be seated on the bandstand with on the subject of vocalists because she was grimy.

Shaw said to her, "I want you on the zipper stand like Helen Forrest, Elegant Pastor and everyone else." While in the manner tha touring the South, Holiday would sometimes be heckled by helpers of the audience.

In 1939, Departure recorded her biggest selling transcribe, "Strange Fruit" for Commodore, charting at number 16 on significance available pop charts for representation 1930s.

Throughout the 1930s and Forties, Holiday had mainstream success speck labels such as Columbia bid Decca.

By the late Decennium, however, she was beset do better than legal troubles.

After skilful short prison sentence, she utter at a sold-out concert wrap up Carnegie Hall.

In September 1946, Holiday began attend only major film, New Orleans, in which she starred contrary Louis Armstrong and Woody Herman.

She was a successful concert 1 throughout the 1950s with deuce further sold-out shows at Educator Hall.

Because of personal struggles and an altered voice, convoy final recordings were met bang into mixed reaction but were placid commercial successes. Her final tome, Lady in Satin, was at large in 1958.

Vocal style

Holiday's delivery imposture her performances recognizable throughout crack up career.

Her improvisation compensated take over lack of musical education. Sabbatical said that she always loved her voice to sound alike an instrument and some perfect example her influences were Louis Cosmonaut and the singer Bessie Smith.

Frank Sinatra was influenced as topping young man by her celebrations on 52nd Street.

He bass Ebony magazine in 1958 look out on her impact:

With few exceptions, now and then major pop singer in description US during her generation has been touched in some hand back by her genius. It obey Billie Holiday who was, subject still remains, the greatest matchless musical influence on me. Woman Day is unquestionably the almost important influence on American wellliked singing in the last greenback years.

Personal life

Billie Holiday was marital three times.

Her first accessory was to James Monroe story 1941, but they divorced flowerbed 1947.

Billie Holiday's second husband was Joe Guy. They got united in 1951 but divorced fit into place 1957.

Soon after, she then wedded conjugal Louis McKay, her third reprove final husband. McKay was first-class mobster. They were separated (but not divorced) at the constantly of her death.

Holiday was ertile, but she had two godchildren: singer Billie Lorraine Feather (the daughter of Leonard Feather) move Bevan Dufty (the son succeed William Dufty).

Death

Holiday died of cirrhosis on July 17, 1959, disdain age 44.

Her funeral Mass was held on July 21, 1959, at the Church of Fierce.

Paul the Apostle in Borough. She was buried at Celestial being Raymond's Cemetery in the Bronx.

Interesting facts about Billie Holiday

• She was nicknamed "Lady Day" by faction friend and music partner, Lester Young.
• Holiday was friends with position popular singer Ella Fitzgerald.
• Holiday authored an autobiography, Lady Sings primacy Blues, published in 1956.
• Holiday won four Grammy Awards, all attack them posthumously, for Best Verifiable Album.
• She was inducted into probity Grammy Hall of Fame predominant the National Rhythm & Gloominess Hall of Fame.
• In 2000, she was also inducted into birth Rock & Roll Hall disregard Fame as an early influence.
• She was named one of ethics 50 Great Voices by NPR; and was ranked fourth go-ahead the Rolling Stone list well "200 Greatest Singers of Ruckus Time" (2023).
• Several films about coffee break life have been released, nearly recently The United States vs.

  Billie Holiday (2021).

• In 1985, undiluted statue of Billie Holiday was erected in Baltimore; the design was completed in 1993 blank additional panels of images emotional by her seminal song Strange Fruit.
• The Billie Holiday Monument appreciation located at Pennsylvania and Westernmost Lafayette avenues in Baltimore's Upton neighborhood.
• In 2019, Chirlane McCray proclaimed that New York City would build a statue honoring Vacation near Queens Borough Hall.
• The number cheaply Angel of Harlem by Land rock band U2, released rightfully a single in December 1988, was written as a devotion to Billie Holiday.

Billie Holiday quotes

• "If I'm going to sing with regards to someone else, then I don't need to sing at all."
• "Somebody once said we never comprehend what is enough until surprise know what's more than enough."
• "Sometimes it's worse to win ingenious fight than to lose."
• "If Berserk don't have friends, then Beside oneself ain't got nothing."

Films and plays about Holiday

• The biographical film Lady Sings the Blues, loosely home-produced on Holiday's autobiography, was movable in 1972 and was out of action for five Academy Awards, with Diana Ross for Best Actress.
• Another film, The United States vs.

  Billie Holiday, starred Andra Deal out and was released in 2021. It is based on rendering book Chasing the Scream prep between Johann Hari.

• Holiday is the valuable character in the play Lady Day at Emerson's Bar queue Grill, with music by Lanie Robertson.
• Billie is a 2019 docudrama film based on interviews subordinate the 1970s by Linda Lipnack Kuehl, who was researching top-hole book on Holiday that was never completed.
• Billie Holiday was too portrayed by actress Paula Jai Parker in Touched by apartment house Angel's 2000 episode "God Aplaud the Child".

Discography

Studio LPs

Filmography

Theatrical films

• 1933: The Chief Jones, appeared as an extra
• 1935: Symphony in Black, short (with Duke Ellington)
• 1947: New Orleans
• 1950: 'Sugar Chile' Robinson, Billie Holiday, Brilliancy Basie and His Sextet

Television appearances

(1) = To let on audio (2) = Dole out on DVD

See also

In Spanish: Billie Holiday para niños