One of Music’s Brightest Stars

Billie Holiday is one of America’s most famous jazz singers. Her name needs no introduction. Although her legacy deservedly paints her as one of the our country’s most talented and groundbreaking singers in the 1930s-40s, she led a life full of struggle, fighting against racism, sexism, substance addictions, neglect and sexual abuse almost from the day she was born. Yet, she changed the world of jazz.

Born to unmarried teenage parents in 1915, Eleanora Fagan knew nothing but instability. She was passed among distant relatives and acquaintances, was in trouble with the law by 9 and a school dropout by 11. When her other moved to Harlem and Billie joined her, it wasn’t long before they were both in prison for prostitution. Still a teenager, Billie began singing in Harlem nightclubs and her distinctive style was quickly noticed. Prophetically, her first hit was “Riffin’ the Scotch.” She was 18, without any formal music education.

What made Billie stand out as much as her voice was her unusual style. Departing from the Tin Pan Alley tradition of the times, she broke the rules by making her songs achingly personal. She also took old standards and changed up beats, tried new phrasings and harmonies, improvised – giving these standards new life. And she knew how to put on a show.

In the 1930s and 40s she experienced major success, even touring with Count Basie and Artie Shaw. But the latter was an all-white band and she experienced rampant racism everywhere they traveled. She fought for change but met constant resistance. She also ran into road blocks while fighting for her own economic independence. It was during these turbulent times that she recorded such classics as “Lover Man, “Don’t Explain,” and “God Bless the Child,” which she is credited with co-writing.

Ultimately, she couldn’t escape the social and emotional turbulence of her life and heroin won out. As she aged, enduring additional arrests, imprisonments and bouts of substance her abuse, her voice bore the scars.  But she never surrendered. She gave a few triumphant concerts at Carnegie Hall in her later years and, even as death approached, she believed better times were ahead. She was only 44 when she died but her impact was indelible. Today, more than a century after her birth, she remains one of American music’s brightest stars.