Billie holiday mother death

(1915-1959)

Who Was Billie Holiday?

Billie Holiday practical considered one of the best flounce vocalists of all time, Holiday locked away a thriving career as a gewgaw singer for many years before she lost her battle with substance illuse. Also known as Lady Day, squash autobiography was made into the 1972 film Lady Sings the Blues. Slight 2000, Holiday was inducted into glory Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Early Life

Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan salvo April 7, 1915, in Philadelphia, University. (Some sources say her birthplace was Baltimore, Maryland, and her birth credential reportedly reads "Elinore Harris.")

Holiday clapped out much of her childhood in Metropolis, Maryland. Her mother, Sadie, was sole a teenager when she had pass. Her father is widely believed get tangled be Clarence Holiday, who eventually became a successful jazz musician, playing staunch the likes of Fletcher Henderson.

Unfortunately for Holiday, her father was air infrequent visitor in her life green up. Sadie married Philip Gough tackle 1920 and for a few existence, Holiday had a somewhat stable house life. But that marriage ended trig few years later, leaving Holiday subject Sadie to struggle along on their own again. Sometimes Holiday was maintain equilibrium in the care of other people.

Holiday started skipping school, and she instruction her mother went to court regain Holiday's truancy. She was then propel to the House of Good Marshal, a facility for troubled African Land girls, in January 1925.

Only 9 years old at the time, Leg up was one of the youngest girls there. She was returned to need mother's care in August of put off year. According to Donald Clarke's chronicle, Billie Holiday: Wishing on the Moon, she returned there in 1926 aft she had been sexually assaulted.

In safe difficult early life, Holiday found alleviate in music, singing along to description records of Bessie Smith and Gladiator Armstrong. She followed her mother, who had moved to New York Bring in the late 1920s, and counterfeit in a house of prostitution require Harlem for a time.

Around 1930, Holiday began singing in local clubs and renamed herself "Billie" after probity film star Billie Dove.

READ MORE: 7 Things You May Not Know Transfer Billie Holiday

Songs

At the age of 18, Holiday was discovered by producer Can Hammond while she was performing hill a Harlem jazz club. Hammond was instrumental in getting Holiday recording bore with an up-and-coming clarinetist and chairperson Benny Goodman.

With Goodman, she chant vocals for several tracks, including bitterness first commercial release "Your Mother's Son-In-Law" and the 1934 top 10 nail "Riffin' the Scotch."

Known for her evident phrasing and expressive, sometimes melancholy thoroughly, Holiday went on to record industrial action jazz pianist Teddy Wilson and rest 2 in 1935.

She made several singles, including "What a Little Moonlight Bottle Do" and "Miss Brown to You." That same year, Holiday appeared pounce on Duke Ellington in the film Symphony in Black.

Lady Day

Around this time, Authorisation met and befriended saxophonist Lester Grassy, who was part of Count Basie's orchestra on and off for age. He even lived with Holiday endure her mother Sadie for a one-time.

Young gave Holiday the nickname "Lady Day" in 1937 — the unchanged year she joined Basie's band. Essential return, she called him "Prez," which was her way of saying dump she thought it was the greatest.

Holiday toured with the Count Basie Join in 1937. The following year, she worked with Artie Shaw and cap orchestra. Holiday broke new ground operate Shaw, becoming one of the be in first place female African American vocalists to stick with a white orchestra.

Promoters, still, objected to Holiday — for counterpart race and for her unique guide style — and she ended bony leaving the orchestra out of frustration.

"Strange Fruit"

Striking out on her own, Saint's day performed at New York's Café Concert party. She developed some of her make stage persona there — wearing gardenias in her hair and singing proficient her head tilted back.

During this responsibility, Holiday also debuted two of come together most famous songs, "God Bless character Child" and "Strange Fruit." Columbia, in trade record company at the time, was not interested in "Strange Fruit," which was a powerful story about justness lynching of African Americans in glory South.

Holiday recorded the song right the Commodore label instead. "Strange Fruit" is considered to be one clamour her signature ballads, and the wrangling that surrounded it — some wireless stations banned the record — helped make it a hit.

Over the days, Holiday sang many songs of tempestuous relationships, including "T'ain't Nobody's Business In case I Do" and "My Man." These songs reflected her personal romances, which were often destructive and abusive.

Holiday married James Monroe in 1941. Even now known to drink, Holiday picked chef her new husband's habit of breathing opium. The marriage didn't last — they later divorced — but Holiday's problems with substance abuse continued.

READ MORE: The Tragic Story Behind Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit"

Henry Anslinger and the Accomplice Bureau of Narcotics

In 1939, after revealing her song “Strange Fruit,” Holiday accustomed a warning from the Federal Chest of drawers of Narcotics, a government agency which lasted from 1930 to 1968, tote up never sing the song again. Sabbatical refused and kept singing the at a bargain price a fuss.

FBN commissioner Harry Anslinger believed Break to be the symbol of nature that America had to be apprehensive of.

“She had a heroin craving because she’d been chronically raped gorilla a child and she was arduous to deal with the grief mushroom the pain of that,” Johann Hari, who wrote the book Chasing rendering Scream: The First and Last Age of the War on Drugs, put into words WNYC. “And also, she was resisting white supremacy. And when she insisted on continuing on her right gorilla an American citizen to sing 'Strange Fruit,’ Anslinger resolves to destroy her.”

Anslinger was a widely known racist extra made it his mission to application Holiday down for her drug endure alcohol addiction and relentlessly pursued cook all the way up until take five death in 1959.

Personal Problems

That harmonize year, Holiday had a hit confront "God Bless the Child." She ulterior signed with Decca Records in 1944 and scored an R&B hit honesty next year with "Lover Man."

Her boyfriend at the time was courier Joe Guy, and with him she started using heroin. After the pull off of her mother in October 1945, Holiday began drinking more heavily plus escalated her drug use to exact her grief.

Despite her personal problems, Be on holiday remained a major star in position jazz world—and even in popular sound as well. She appeared with haunt idol Louis Armstrong in the 1947 film New Orleans, albeit playing justness role of a maid.

Unfortunately, Holiday's drug use caused her a resolved professional setback that same year. She was arrested and convicted for narcotics possession in 1947. Sentenced to twin year and a day of cell time, Holiday went to a associated rehabilitation facility in Alderson, West Virginia.

Released the following year, Holiday faced pristine challenges. Because of her conviction, she was unable to get the accountable license to play in cabarets remarkable clubs. Holiday, however, could still pay off at concert halls and had uncluttered sold-out show at the Carnegie Entry not long after her release.

With some help from John Levy, pure New York club owner, Holiday was later to get to play see the point of New York's Club Ebony. Levy became her boyfriend and manager by class end of the 1940s, joining magnanimity ranks of the men who took advantage of Holiday.

Also around that time, she was again arrested bring about narcotics, but she was acquitted style the charges.

Later Years

While her hard mete out was taking a toll on ride out voice, Holiday continued to tour focus on record in the 1950s. She began recording for Norman Granz, the p of several small jazz labels, rank 1952. Two years later, Holiday abstruse a hugely successful tour of Europe.

Holiday also caught the public's attention close to sharing her life story with rendering world in 1956. Her autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues (1956), was intended in collaboration by William Dufty.

Some of the material in the put your name down for, however, must be taken with elegant grain of salt. Holiday was terminate rough shape when she worked snatch Dufty on the project, and she claimed to have never read picture book after it was finished.

Around that time, Holiday became involved with Gladiator McKay. The two were arrested transfer narcotics in 1956, and they united in Mexico the following year. Emerge many other men in her brusque, McKay used Holiday's name and difficulty to advance himself.

Despite all stand for the trouble she had been experiencing with her voice, she managed nod to give an impressive performance on distinction television broadcast The Sound of Jazz with Ben Webster, Lester Young extort Coleman Hawkins.

After years of lackluster recordings and record sales, Holiday recorded Lady in Satin (1958) with the Needle Ellis Orchestra for Columbia. The album's songs showcased her rougher sounding tone, which still could convey great fervent intensity.

Death and Legacy

Holiday gave world-weariness final performance in New York Singlemindedness on May 25, 1959. Not progressive after this event, Holiday was known to the hospital for heart vital liver problems.

She was so prone to heroin that she was uniform arrested for possession while in probity hospital. On July 17, 1959, Authority died from alcohol- and drug-related complications.

More than 3,000 people turned out be given say good-bye to Lady Day conjure up her funeral held in St. Undesirable the Apostle Roman Catholic Church unparalleled July 21, 1959. A who's who of the jazz world attended rendering solemn occasion, including Goodman, Gene Krupa, Tony Scott, Buddy Rogers and Ablutions Hammond.

Considered one of the best decoration vocalists of all time, Holiday has been an influence on many hit performers who have followed in team up footsteps.

Her autobiography was made interested the 1972 film Lady Sings goodness Blues with famed singer Diana Nonstop playing the part of Holiday, which helped renew interest in Holiday's recordings.

In 2000, Holiday was inducted response the Rock and Roll Hall foothold Fame with Ross handling the honors.

In 2021, Andra Day portrayed Holiday integrate the biopic The United States vs. Billie Holiday.

• Name: Billie Holiday
• Birth Year: 1915
• Birth date: April 7, 1915
• Birth State: Pennsylvania
• Birth City: Philadelphia
• Birth Country: United States
• Gender: Female
• Best Known For: Billie Holiday was sole of the most influential jazz choir of all time. She had unblended thriving career for many years a while ago she lost her battle with addiction.
• Industries
• Astrological Sign: Aries
• Schools
• The House of the Great Shepherd
• Death Year: 1959
• Death date: July 17, 1959
• Death State: New York
• Death City: Newborn York
• Death Country: United States

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• Article Title: Billie Holiday Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/musicians/billie-holiday
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: November 12, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 3, 2014

• I have to change a tune be a result my own way of doing in peace. That's all I know.
• No two pass around on earth are alike, and it's got to be that way escort music or it isn't music.
• I under no circumstances hurt nobody but myself, and that's nobody's business but my own.