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Billie Holiday stands as one of jazz's great vocalists. The inspiration for many aspiring singers today, Holiday had a singular voice steeped in aching emotion and fueled by an uncanny sense of swing. She not only stamped her distinctive signature on such standards as "Night And Day," but she also contributed remarkable originals to the jazz canon, including "Strange Fruit" and "God Bless The Child." Influenced by Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong, Holiday not only sang with passion and conviction, but she also improvised with a trumpeter's sensibility. Holiday was born April 7, 1915, in Baltimore. Even though her father, Clarence Holiday, was a guitar/banjo player in Fletcher Henderson's band, she didn't break into the music world until she was in her late teens. After being signed by Columbia Records' John Hammond in 1933 for her debut record (accompanied by members of Benny Goodman's studio band), Holiday went on to work with Teddy Wilson, Buck Clayton and Lester Young, who crowned her with the nickname Lady Day. She also toured with the Count Basie Orchestra in 1937 and Artie Shaw in 1938. Holiday became a star on the New York club scene during the early '40s and her post-war work for the Decca label gave her popular acclaim, especially when she recorded "Lover Man," which became a hit. However, the Holiday story is a tragic one. As a result of her impoverished upbringing and her constant bouts with drug abuse (especially heroin), her career was marked by a series of exaggerated peaks and valleys. By the time she was recording for Verve in the '50s, the golden days of her jazz vocalizing were long gone. In July 1959 she collapsed, and on July 17, 1959, died in a hospital several days later of a kidney ailment. Holiday's music continues to be incredibly popular, and the best window into her life is her autobiography, Lady Sings The Blues. In 1961, Holiday was elected by the Readers into the Down Beat Hall of Fame. |