Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday in 1949 photograph by Carl Van Vechten
Background information
Birth name	Eleanora Fagan
Also known as	Lady Day
Born	April 7, 1915(1915-04-07)
Origin	Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Died	July 17, 1959 (aged 44)
Genre(s)	Jazz blues Torch songs Ballads Vocal jazz Swing
Occupation(s)	Jazz singer, Composer
Instrument(s)	Vocals
Years active	1933-1959
Label(s)	Columbia Records (1933-1942, 1958) Commodore Records (1939, 1944) Decca Records (1944-1950) Verve Records (1952-1959)
Associated acts	Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan
Website	Billie Holiday Official Site

Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 480 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (820 × 1024 pixels, file size: 64 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) de: Lizenzhinweis: Die Nutzung der Bilder wurde auf der Projektseite Fragen zum Urheberrecht dahingehend geklärt, dass die Verwendung der {PD-Van Vechten}-Bilder in der... Carl Van Vechten (June 17, 1880 – December 21, 1964) was an American writer and photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary executor of Gertrude Stein. ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Baltimore redirects here. ... is the 198th day of the year (199th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Jazz blues or in its second name Jlues is a musical style that combines jazz and blues. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... A ballad is a story in song, usually a narrative song or poem. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... For other uses, see swing. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Singer (disambiguation). ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... For other uses, see Singer (disambiguation). ... Year 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. ... Columbia Records is the oldest brand name in recorded sound, dating back to 1888, and was the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as opposed to blank cylinders. ... Year 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jan. ... Commodore Records is a United States based record label known for issuing many well regarded recordings of jazz and swing music. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... It has been suggested that Decca Music Group be merged into this article or section. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Verve Records is an American Jazz record label, founded by Norman Granz in 1956, which absorbed the catalogues of his earlier labels: Norgran Records and Clef Records (founded 1953). ... Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996), also known as Lady Ella and the First Lady of Song, is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th Century. ... Sarah Lois Vaughan (nicknamed Sassy and The Divine One) (March 27, 1924, Newark, New Jersey – April 3, 1990, Los Angeles, California) was an American jazz singer, described as one of the greatest singers of the 20th century [1]. // Sarah Vaughans father, Asbury Jake Vaughan, was a carpenter and amateur... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 198th day of the year (199th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Singer (disambiguation). ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ...

Nicknamed Lady Day^[1] by her sometime collaborator Lester Young, Holiday was a seminal influence on jazz, and pop singers' critic John Bush^[2] wrote that she "changed the art of American pop vocals forever." Her vocal style — strongly inspired by instrumentalists — pioneered a new way of manipulating wording and tempo, and also popularized a more personal and intimate approach to singing. Lester Young Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed Prez, was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. ...

She co-wrote only a few songs, but several of them have become jazz standards, notably "God Bless the Child," "Don't Explain," and "Lady Sings the Blues." Jazz standard refers to a tune that is widely known, performed, and recorded among jazz musicians. ... God Bless the Child can refer to two songs, by two different artists. ... Lady Sings the Blues is a 1972 biographical film which tells the story of blues singer Billie Holliday. ...

Biography

Early life

Photograph of a two-year-old Holiday

Billie Holiday had a difficult childhood, which greatly affected her life and career. Much of her childhood is clouded by conjecture and legend, some of it propagated by her autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues, published in 1956. This account is known to contain many inaccuracies.^[3] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

Her professional pseudonym was taken from Billie Dove, an actress she admired, and Clarence Holiday, her probable father. At the outset of her career, she spelled her last name "Halliday," presumably to distance herself from her neglectful father, but eventually changed it back to "Holiday." Billie Dove (born May 14, 1900 (although most sources incorrectly ascribed the year 1903; died December 31, 1997) was an American actress. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... Clarence Holiday (1900? - 1937) was a jazz guitarist who played with the band of Fletcher Henderson during the Swing Era. ...

There is some controversy regarding Holiday's paternity, stemming from a copy of her birth certificate in the Baltimore archives that lists the father as a "Frank DeViese". Some historians consider this an anomaly, probably inserted by a hospital or government worker.^[4]

Thrown out of her parents' home in Baltimore, Billie's mother, Sadie Fagan, moved to Philadelphia where Billie was born. Mother and child eventually settled in a poor section of Baltimore. Her parents married when she was three, but they soon divorced, leaving her to be raised largely by her mother and other relatives. At the age of 10, she reported that she had been raped.^[5] That claim, combined with her frequent truancy, resulted in her being sent to The House of the Good Shepherd, a Catholic reform school, in 1925. It was only through the assistance of a family friend that she was released two years later.^[6] Scarred by these experiences, Holiday moved to New York City with her mother in 1928. In 1929 Holiday's mother discovered a neighbor, Wilbert Rich, in the act of raping her daughter; Rich was sentenced to three months in jail. For other uses, see Philadelphia (disambiguation) and Philly. ... “Truant” redirects here. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ...

Early singing career

According to Billie Holiday's own account, she was recruited by a brothel, worked as a prostitute in 1930, and was eventually imprisoned for a short time for solicitation. It was in Harlem in the early 1930s that she started singing for tips in various night clubs. According to legend, penniless and facing eviction, she sang "Travelin All Alone" in a local club and reduced the audience to tears. She later worked at various clubs for tips, ultimately landing at Pod's and Jerry's, a well known Harlem jazz club. Her early work history is hard to verify, though accounts say she was working at a club named Monette's in 1933 when she was discovered by talent scout John Hammond.^[7] For other uses, see Harlem (disambiguation). ... The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known as the [[. In East Asia, the rise of militarism occurred. ... John Henry Hammond (December 15, 1910–July 10, 1987) was a record producer, musician and music critic from the 1930s to the early 1980s. ...

Hammond arranged for Holiday to make her recording debut on a 1933 Benny Goodman date, and Goodman was also on hand in 1935, when she continued her recording career with a group led by pianist Teddy Wilson. Their first collaboration included "What A Little Moonlight Can Do" and "Miss Brown To You", which helped to establish Billie Holiday as a major vocalist. She began recording under her own name a year later, producing a series of extraordinary performances with groups comprising the Swing Era's finest musicians. Benny Goodman, born Benjamin David Goodman[1] , (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American jazz musician and virtuoso clarinetist, known as King of Swing, Patriarch of the Clarinet, The Professor, and Swings Senior Statesman. // Goodman was born in Chicago, the ninth of twelve children of poor Jewish... Theodore Shaw Teddy Wilson (born November 24, 1912 in Austin, Texas-died July 31, 1986 in New Britain, Connecticut) was a United States jazz pianist. ... The Swing Era was the period of time (1935-1946) when big band swing music was the most popular music in America. ...

Wilson was signed to Brunswick by John Hammond for the purpose of recording current pop tunes in the new Swing style for the growing jukebox trade. They were given free rein to improvise the material. Holiday's amazing method of improvising the melody line to fit the emotion was revolutionary (Wilson and Holiday took pedestrian pop tunes like "Twenty Four Hours A Day" or "Yankee Doodle Never Went To Town" and turn them into jazz classics with their arrangements). With few exceptions, the recordings she made with Wilson or under her own name during the 1930's and early 1940's are regarded as important parts of the jazz vocal library. The Brunswick Records logo Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. ...

Among the musicians who accompanied her frequently was tenor saxophonist Lester Young, who had been a boarder at her mother's house in 1934 and with whom she had a special rapport. "Well, I think you can hear that on some of the old records, you know. Some time I'd sit down and listen to 'em myself, and it sound like two of the same voices, if you don't be careful, you know, or the same mind, or something like that."^[8] Young nicknamed her "Lady Day" and she, in turn, dubbed him "Prez." In the late 1930s, she also had brief stints as a big band vocalist with Count Basie (1937) and Artie Shaw (1938). The latter association placed her among the first black women to work with a white orchestra, an arrangement that went against the temper of the times. Lester Young Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed Prez, was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. ... William Count Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. ... Artie Shaw (May 23, 1910, New York, New York – December 30, 2004, Thousand Oaks, California) is considered to be one of the best jazz musicians of his time. ...

The Commodore Years and "Strange Fruit"

Holiday was recording for Columbia in the late 1930s when she was introduced to "Strange Fruit," a song based on a poem about lynching written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish schoolteacher from the Bronx. Meeropol used the pseudonym "Lewis Allan" for the poem, which was set to music and performed at teachers' union meetings. It was eventually heard by Barney Josephson, proprietor of Café Society, an integrated nightclub in Greenwich Village, who introduced it to Holiday. She performed it at the club in 1939, with some trepidation, fearing possible retaliation. Holiday later said that the imagery in "Strange Fruit" reminded her of her father's death, and that this played a role in her persistence to perform it. In a 1958 interview, she also bemoaned the fact that many people did not grasp the song's message: "They'll ask me to 'sing that sexy song about the people swinging'," she said.^[9] For other uses, see Strange Fruit (disambiguation). ... Manifestations Slavery Racial profiling Lynching Hate speech Hate crime Genocide (examples) Ethnocide Ethnic cleansing Pogrom Race war Religious persecution Gay bashing Blood libel Paternalism Police brutality Movements Policies Discriminatory Race / Religion / Sex segregation Apartheid Redlining Internment Anti-discriminatory Emancipation Civil rights Desegregation Integration Equal opportunity Counter-discriminatory Affirmative action Racial... The American writer Abel Meeropol (1903 - 1986) is best known under his pseudonym Lewis Allan, under which he wrote the anti-lynching song Strange Fruit, famously performed by Billie Holiday. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... For other uses, see Bronx (disambiguation). ... Café society was the collective description for the so-called beautiful people and bright young things who gathered in fashionable cafes and restaurants in Paris, London, Rome or New York, beginning in the late 1800s. ... The Washington Square Arch Greenwich Village (IPA pronunciation: ), also called simply the Village, is a largely residential area on the west side of downtown (southern) Manhattan in New York City named after Greenwich, London. ...

When her producers at Columbia found the subject matter too sensitive, Commodore Records' Milt Gabler agreed to record it for his label. That was done in April, 1939 and "Strange Fruit" remained in her repertoire for twenty years. She later recorded it again for Verve. While the Commodore release did not get airplay, the controversial song sold well, but Gabler attributes that mostly to the record's other side, "Fine and Mellow," which was a juke box hit.^[10] Milt Gabler (20 May 1911 - 20 July 2001) was a noted American record producer. ...

Decca Records and "Lover Man"

In addition to owning Commodore Records, Milt Gabler was an A&R man for Decca Records, and he signed Holiday to the label in 1944. Her first recording for Decca, "Lover Man," was a song written especially for her by Jimmy Davis, Roger "Ram" Ramirez, and Jimmy Sherman. Although its lyrics describe a woman who has never known love ("I long to try something I never had"), its theme—a woman longing for a missing lover—and its refrain, "Lover man, oh, where can you be?", struck a chord in wartime America and the record became one of her biggest hits. In the music industry, Artists and Repertoire (A&R) is the division of a record label company that is responsible for scouting and artist development. ... Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be?) (often called simply Lover Man) is a 1941 popular song written by Jimmy Davis, Roger Ram Ramirez, and James Sherman. ...

Holiday continued to record for Decca until 1950, including sessions with the Duke Ellington and Count Basie orchestras, and two duets with Louis Armstrong. Holiday's Decca recordings featured big bands and, sometimes, strings, contrasting her intimate small group Columbia accompaniments. Some of the songs from her Decca repertoire became signatures, including "Don't Explain" and "Good Morning Heartache". This article is about the American Jazz composer and performer. ... William Count Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. ... Louis[1] Armstrong[2] (4 August 1901[3] – July 6, 1971), nicknamed Satchmo[4] and Pops, was an American jazz musician. ...

Film

Holiday made one major film appearance, opposite Louis Armstrong in New Orleans (1947). The musical drama featured Holiday singing with Armstrong and his band and was directed by Arthur Lubin. Louis[1] Armstrong[2] (4 August 1901[3] – July 6, 1971), nicknamed Satchmo[4] and Pops, was an American jazz musician. ... Arthur Lubin (July 25, 1898 - May 12, 1995) was a film producer and director who directed many Abbott & Costello films. ...

Later life

Her personal life was as turbulent as the songs she sang. Holiday stated that she began using hard drugs in the early 1940s. She married trombonist Jimmy Monroe on August 25, 1941. While still married to Monroe, she took up with trumpeter Joe Guy, her drug dealer, as his common law wife. She finally divorced Monroe in 1947, and also split with Guy. In 1947 she was jailed on drug charges and served eight months at the Alderson Federal Correctional Institution for Women in West Virginia. Her New York City Cabaret Card was subsequently revoked, which kept her from working in clubs there for the remaining 12 years of her life, except when she played at the Ebony Club in 1948, where she opened under the permission of John Levy. This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ... Alderson Federal Prison Camp, also known as Federal Prison Camp, Alderson or FPC Alderson, is a federal prison in the United States for minimum-security female inmates. ... Official language(s) English Capital Charleston Largest city Charleston Largest metro area Charleston metro area Area  Ranked 41st  - Total 24,244 sq mi (62,809 km²)  - Width 130 miles (210 km)  - Length 240 miles (385 km)  - % water 0. ... From Prohibition until 1960, New York City required cabaret card permits to be held by all workers in its nightclubs. ... John Levy (b. ...

By the 1950s, Holiday's drug abuse, drinking, and relations with abusive men led to deteriorating health. As evidenced by her later recordings, Holiday's voice coarsened and did not project the vibrance it once had.^{[citation needed]} However, she had retained — and, perhaps, strengthened — the emotional impact of her delivery.^{[citation needed]}

On March 28, 1952, Holiday married Louis McKay, a mafia enforcer. McKay, like most of the men in her life, was abusive, but he did try to get her off drugs. They were separated at the time of her death, but McKay had plans to start a chain of Billie Holiday vocal studios, a la the Arthur Murray dance schools. Holiday also had a relationship with Orson Welles.^{[citation needed]} George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an Academy Award-winning American director, writer, actor and producer for film, stage, radio and television. ...

Her late recordings on Verve constitute about a third of her commercial recorded legacy and are as well remembered as her earlier work for the Columbia, Commodore and Decca labels. In later years her voice became more fragile, but it never lost the edge that had always made it so distinctive. On November 10, 1956, she performed before a packed audience at Carnegie Hall, a major accomplishment for any artist, especially a black artist of the segregated period of American history. Her performance of "Fine And Mellow" on CBS's The Sound of Jazz program is memorable for her interplay with her long-time friend Lester Young; both were less than two years from death. (see the clip here) This article is about the broadcast network. ... The Sound of Jazz soundtrack album The Sound of Jazz was a landmark television program that was part of CBSs Seven Lively Arts series. ... Lester Young Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed Prez, was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. ...

Holiday first toured Europe in 1954, as part of a Leonard Feather package that also included Buddy DeFranco and Red Norvo. When she returned, almost five years later, she made one of her last television appearances for Granada's "Chelsea at Nine," in London. Her final studio recordings were made for MGM in 1959, with lush backing from Ray Ellis and his Orchestra, who had also accompanied her on Columbia's Lady in Satin album the previous year — see below). The MGM sessions were released posthumously on a self-titled album, later re-titled and re-released as Last Recordings. Her final public appearance, a benefit concert at the Phoenix Theater in New York's Greenwich Village, took place on May 25, 1959. According to the evening's masters of ceremony, jazz critic Leonard Feather and TV host Steve Allen, she was only able to make it through two songs, one of which was "Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do." Leonard Geoffrey Feather (13 September 1914–22 September 1994) was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer who was best known for his music journalism and other writing. ... Buddy DeFranco (born 1923) is a jazz clarinet player. ... Red Norvo (31 March 1908- 6 April 1999) was one of jazzs early vibraphonists. ... MGM logo Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM, is a large media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of cinema and television programs. ... Ray Ellis is a music producer, arranger and conductor. ... Lady in Satin is a 1958 album by the jazz singer Billie Holiday and featuring bandleader Ray Ellis. ... Leonard Geoffrey Feather (13 September 1914–22 September 1994) was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer who was best known for his music journalism and other writing. ... Steve Allen on the cover of Steve Allen on the Bible, Religion, and Morality Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American musician, comedian, and writer who was instrumental in innovating the concept of the television talk show. ...

On May 31, 1959, she was taken to Metropolitan Hospital in New York suffering from liver and heart disease. On July 12, she was placed under house arrest at the hospital for possession, despite evidence suggesting the drugs may have been planted on her. Holiday remained under police guard at the hospital until she died from cirrhosis of the liver on July 17 1959 at the age of 44. In the final years of her life, she had been progressively swindled out of her earnings, and she died with only $0.70 in the bank and $750 (a tabloid fee) on her person. The liver is an organ in vertebrates including humans. ... Heart disease is an umbrella term for a number of different diseases which affect the heart and as of 2007 it is the leading cause of death in the United States,[1] and England and Wales. ... Cirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease characterized by replacement of liver tissue by fibrotic scar tissue as well as regenerative nodules, leading to progressive loss of liver function. ...

Billie Holiday is interred in Saint Raymond's Cemetery, The Bronx, New York. Saint Raymonds Cemetery is a cemetery in The Bronx, New York City. ... For other uses, see The Bronx (disambiguation). ... This article is about the state. ...

Voice

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Billie Holiday photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1949

Her distinct delivery made Billie Holiday's performances instantly recognizable throughout her career. Years of abuse eventually altered the texture of her voice and gave it a prepossessing fragility, but the emotion with which she imbued each song remained intact.^[11]. Her last major recording, a 1958 album entitled Lady in Satin, features the backing of a 40-piece orchestra conducted and arranged by Ray Ellis, who said of the album in 1997: Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (513x640, 26 KB) Billie Holiday, 23 March 1949 Photo by Carl Van Vechten Credit Line: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection, LC-USZ62-112865 DLC (b&w film copy neg. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (513x640, 26 KB) Billie Holiday, 23 March 1949 Photo by Carl Van Vechten Credit Line: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection, LC-USZ62-112865 DLC (b&w film copy neg. ... Carl Van Vechten (June 17, 1880 – December 21, 1964) was an American writer and photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary executor of Gertrude Stein. ... Lady in Satin is a 1958 album by the jazz singer Billie Holiday and featuring bandleader Ray Ellis. ... Ray Ellis is a music producer, arranger and conductor. ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ...

I would say that the most emotional moment was her listening to the playback of "I'm a Fool to Want You." There were tears in her eyes ... After we finished the album I went into the control room and listened to all the takes. I must admit I was unhappy with her performance, but I was just listening musically instead of emotionally. It wasn't until I heard the final mix a few weeks later that I realized how great her performance really was.

References and tributes

In 1972, Diana Ross portrayed her in a film that was loosely based on Lady Sings the Blues, the autobiography she co-authored with William Dufty, which earned Ross an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. In 1987, Billie Holiday was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1994, the United States Postal Service introduced a Billie Holiday postage stamp,^[12] she ranked #6 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women in Rock n' Roll in 1999, and she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Over the years, there have been many recorded tributes to Billie Holiday, including "Angel of Harlem," a 1988 release by the group U2. For the author-illustrator, see Diana Ross (author). ... Lady Sings the Blues is a 1972 biographical film which tells the story of blues singer Billie Holliday. ... Cover of the first English edition of 1793 of Benjamin Franklins autobiography. ... Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ... Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. ... The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded by the Recording Academy to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording [1]. This award is distinct from the Grammy Hall of Fame Award, which honors specific recordings rather than individuals, and... USPS and Usps redirect here. ... A selection of Hong Kong postage stamps A postage stamp is evidence of pre-paying a fee for postal services. ... VH1 (VH-1: Video Hits One until 1994 and VH1: Music First until 2003) is an American digital television channel that was created in January 1985 by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communications and owners of MTV. VH1 and sister channel MTV are currently... The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at sunset. ... This article cites very few or no references or sources. ... This article is about the Irish rock band. ...

In his 2001 book, writer David Sedaris chronicles his youthful dreams of being able to "sing in the voice of Billie Holiday." In the audio book version of the book, you can actually hear him perform several commercial jingles as Billie might have. He also sings "Away in a Manger" as Billie on "Santaland Diaries," in 1998's "Holidays on Ice." David Sedaris (born December 26, 1957) is a Grammy Award-nominated American humorist and radio contributor. ...

Songs composed by Holiday

• "Billie's Blues" (1936)
• "Don't Explain" (1944)
• "Everything Happens For The Best" (1939)
• "Fine and Mellow" (1939)
• "God Bless the Child" (1941)
• "Lady Sings the Blues" (1956)
• "Long Gone Blues" (1939)
• " Now or Never"(1949)
• "Our Love Is Different" (1939)
• "Stormy Blues" (1954)

Year 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Fine and Mellow is a song most associated with Billie Holiday who first sang it in 1939. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see God Bless the Child (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... A car from 1956 Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Selective awards

Grammy Hall of Fame

Billie Holiday was posthumously inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance." The Grammy Hall of Fame Award is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old and that have qualitative or historical significance. Alphabetical listing by title: List of Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients A-D List of Grammy Hall... For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ...

Embraceable You is a popular song. ... Lady in Satin is a 1958 album by the jazz singer Billie Holiday and featuring bandleader Ray Ellis. ... For other uses, see Strange Fruit (disambiguation). ... Martin Luther King Jr. ... Construction of the Thomas Jefferson Building, from July 8, 1888 to May 15, 1894. ... For other uses, see God Bless the Child (disambiguation). ...

Grammy Best Historical Album

The Grammy Award for Best Historical Album has been presented since 1979. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Grammy Award for Best Historical Album has been presented since 1979. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ...

Other honors

Jazz at Lincoln Center is a new addition to the Lincoln Center performing arts complex, located at 60th Street and Broadway in New York City, slightly south of the main Lincoln Center campus and directly adjacent to Columbus Circle. ... The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at sunset. ... The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a non-profit performing rights organization that protects its members musical copyrights by monitoring public performances of their music, whether via a broadcast or live performance, and compensating them accordingly. ... The Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization founded in 1977 to promote greater awareness, knowledge, and appreciation of big band and jazz music.[1] The organization has inducted more than 200 individuals into its Hall of Fame, maintains an extensive biographical database, and aspires... August 2005 issue of Esquire Esquire is a mens magazine by the Hearst Corporation. ...

Music samples

More music by Billie Holiday: Image File history File links BillieHoliday_ImAFoolToWantYou. ...

• Sophisticated Lady (Duke Ellington) [1]
• Miss Brown to You (Leo Robin, Ralph Rainger, Richard Whiting) [2]
• Summertime (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) [3]
• Strange Fruit [4]
• I'm Pulling Through [5]
• If I Were You [6]
• You Go To My Head (Haven Gillespie, J. Fred Coots) [7]
• Body and Soul (Edward Heyman, Frank Eyton, Johnny Green, Robert Sour) [8]

This article is about the American Jazz composer and performer. ... Gershwin redirects here. ... Ira Gershwin (6 December 1896 – 17 August 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century. ...

References in literature

Frank O'Hara's 1959 poem "The Day Lady Died" is written in tribute to her. Francis Russell OHara (June 27, 1926 – July 25, 1966) was an American poet who, along with John Ashbery, James Schuyler and Kenneth Koch, was a key member of what was known as the New York School of poetry. ...

Jewelle Gomez's 1987 short fictional story "Don't Explain" takes its title from Holiday's song. Holiday appears in the story, which is set in 1959 Boston, and she also functions as a symbol.

Discography

Holiday recorded extensively for four labels:

• Columbia Records (1933-1942, 1958) [Brunswick Records (1935-1939), Vocalion (later OKeh) Records (1936-1942)]
• Commodore Records (1939, 1944)
• Decca Records (1944-1950)
• Verve Records (1952-1959)

Studio Recordings

A large portion of Holiday's recordings date from before the album era, and the Columbia, Commodore, and Decca box sets listed below feature recordings originally released at 78 RPM. Studio albums proper released during her lifetime listed in the albums discography; the plethora of later reissues and repackages omitted, except for the box sets. An album or record album is a collection of related audio or music tracks distributed to the public. ... Commodore Records is a United States based record label known for issuing many well regarded recordings of jazz and swing music. ... It has been suggested that Decca Music Group be merged into this article or section. ... A box set (sometimes referred to as a boxed set) is one or more musical recordings, films, television programs, or other collection of related things that are contained in a box. ... A 12-inch record (left), a 7-inch record (right), and a CD (above) Two 7 singles (left), two colored 7 singles (middle), and two 7 singles with large spindle holes (right). ...

Studio Albums

• Billie Holiday Sings, Columbia CL 6192, 1950
• Billie Holiday Vol. 1, Commodore F20005, 1950
• Billie Holiday Vol. 2, Commodore F20006, 1950
• An Evening with Billie Holiday, Clef MGC 144, 1953
• Music for Torching, Clef MGC 669, 1955
• Velvet Moods, Clef MGC 713, 1956
• Jazz Recital, Clef MGC 718, 1956
• Songs for Distingue Lovers, Verve MGV 8257, 1957
• Body and Soul, Verve MGV 8197, 1957
• Lady in Satin, Columbia CL 1157, June 1958
• All or Nothing At All, Verve MGV 8329, 1958
• Stay With Me, Verve MGV 8302, 1959

Lady in Satin is a 1958 album by the jazz singer Billie Holiday and featuring bandleader Ray Ellis. ...

Box Sets

• Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia 1933-1944, Columbia Legacy CXK85470, 2001
• The Complete Commodore Recordings (1939, 1944)
  • For collectors not interested in non-released studio takes, The Commodore Master Takes features only the released versions of Holiday's Commodore recordings.
• The Complete Decca Recordings (1944-1950)
• The Complete Billie Holiday on Verve (1945-1959)
• Billie Holiday Golden Greats

Live recordings

Many live recordings, of varying quality, are also available. A selection is listed below:

• At Monterey 1958 (1958)
• Billie Holiday in Europe 1954-1958 (1954-1958)
• The Complete 1951 Storyville Club Sessions (1951)
• Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday at Newport (1957) (Holiday's performance is included in the Verve box set; see below)
• Lady Day: The Storyville Concerts [Vol. 1 and 2] (1951, 1953, 1959)
• A Midsummer Night's Jazz at Stratford '57 (1957)
• Summer of '49 (1948-1949)

The Columbia box set includes live recordings of Holiday's performances with the Count Basie Orchestra (1937) and Benny Goodman (1939), and her performance at the 1944 Esquire Jazz Concert. The Monterey Jazz Festival (MJF) is one of the longest consecutively running jazz festival in history. ... Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday at Newport is a 1958 (see 1958 in music) live album by the great American jazz singers Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday recorded at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival. ... Stratford is a city on the Avon River in Perth County in southwestern Ontario, Canada with a population of 30,461, according to the 2006 census. ... William Count Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was a jazz pianist, organist, and bandleader. ... August 2005 issue of Esquire Esquire is a mens magazine by the Hearst Corporation. ...

The Verve box set includes the following live recordings:

• Jazz at the Philharmonic performances (1945-1947)
• Jazz Club USA (1954)
• 1956 Carnegie Hall concerts, with a narrator reading portions of her autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues
• 1957 Newport Jazz Festival
• Seven Ages of Jazz Festival (1958)

Jazz at the Philharmonic (JATP) was the title of a series of concerts and recordings produced by Norman Granz. ... Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street. ... The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every August in Newport, Rhode Island. ...

Notes

Jazz royalty is a term that reflects the many great jazz musicians who have some sort of royal title in their names or nicknames. ...

References

• Jack Millar, Fine and Mellow: A Discography of Billie Holiday, 1994, ISBN 1-899161-00-7
• Julia Blackburn, With Billie, ISBN 0-375-40610-7
• John Chilton, Billie's Blues: The Billie Holiday Story 1933-1959, ISBN 0-306-80363-1
• Donald Clarke, Billie Holiday: Wishing on the Moon, ISBN 0-306-81136-7
• Angela Y. Davis, Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday, ISBN 0-679-77126-3
• Leslie Gourse, The Billie Holiday Companion: Seven Decades of Commentary, ISBN 0-02-864613-4
• Farah Jasmine Griffin, If You Can't Be Free, Be A Mystery: In Search of Billie Holiday, ISBN 0-684-86808-3
• Billie Holiday with William Dufty, Lady Sings the Blues, ISBN 0-14-006762-0
• Chris Ingham, Billie Holiday, ISBN 1-56649-170-3
• Burnett James, Billie Holiday, ISBN 0-946771-05-7
• Stuart Nicholson, Billie Holiday, ISBN 1-55553-303-5

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Billie Holiday

• Official Site
• Official Billie Holiday @ Sony BMG
• Billie Holiday Discography
• Billie Holiday's Music - Pure Vintage
• Brief biography at Jazz (PBS)
• Brief biography at American Masters (PBS)
• The African American Registry - Billie Holiday
• "Essential Billie Holiday Recordings" by Stuart Nicholson, Jazz.com.
• Billie Holiday Timeline
• Billie Holiday's Gravesite
• Billie Holiday’s Small Band Recordings of 1935-1939

For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Singer (disambiguation). ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Baltimore redirects here. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ...