Billie Holiday was a hugely influential American jazz musician and singer-songwriter.
Holiday (real name Eleanora Fagan) had a difficult childhood, her mother Sadie Fagan worked “transportation jobs”, serving on passenger railroads which meant that Holiday was left with family for most of the time. Holiday frequently skipped school and her truancy led to her being sent to The House of the Good Shepherd, a Catholic reform school when she was 9. Later that year her mother opened a restaurant and Holiday was able to join her there, at age 11 Holiday dropped out of school.
Holiday found solace in music, singing along to the records of Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong. When Holiday was 13 her mother moved to Harlem, later Holiday joined her and the two became sex workers despite Holiday’s age. Later that year the house was raided and they were both sent to prison. On her release Holiday began singing in nightclubs in Harlem, she took her stage name from Billie Dove, an actress she admired, and the musician Clarence Holiday, who is rumoured to be her father. Holiday quickly became a part of what was then one of the most vibrant jazz scenes in the country and performed in many clubs working for tips.
At 18 Holiday had become an experienced performer and replaced the singer Monette Moore at a club called Covan’s on West 132nd Street, where she was spotted by producer John Hammond who introduced her Benny Goodman, a clarinettist and bandleader. Holiday recorded several tracks with Goodman including her first commercial release “Your Mother’s Son-In-Law” and “Riffin’ the Scotch,” which became her first hit.
Holiday then recorded four songs which became hits including “What a Little Moonlight Can Do” and “Miss Brown to You.”. The success of these songs landed her a recording contract and she recorded a number of tracks which would become an important building block of early American jazz music.
Holiday began working with saxophonist Lester Young in 1936, who pegged her with her now-famous nickname of “Lady Day.” This led to Holiday briefly joining Count Basie’s orchestra in 1937 and touring with them for a while. She chose the songs she sang and was influential in the arrangements. Count Basie later said that ‘she knew how she wanted them to sound and you couldn’t tell her what to do’. Holiday then went on to work with Artie Shaw and his orchestra where she became one of the first female African American vocalists to tour the segregated Southern US with a white bandleader. Promoters objected to Holiday because of her vocal style and her race and she left the orchestra out of frustration.
In the 1930’s Holiday was first introduced to the poem “Strange Fruit” which was about the lynching of a black man. Her record label Columbia would not allow her to record the piece due to its subject matter and she was forced to record it with Commodore instead. The song was controversial and some radio station banned it but this only helped to make it a hit. The success of the song prompted her to sing more of her signature ballads.
Despite personal problems, Holiday’s fame continued in both the jazz world and popular music. She appeared in a small part in a film with her idol Louis Armstrong in the 1947 film New Orleans but that same year she had a major setback when she was arrested and convicted for narcotics possession. On her release from prison she was unable to play in cabarets and clubs, she could however play at concert halls and sold out Carnegie Hall.
Holiday continued to tour and record through the 1950’s and completed a hugely successful tour of Europe. In 1957 Holiday married Louis McKay, a man who the year before she’d been arrested for narcotics with. McKay took advantage of Holiday’s name and money to advance his own career. Holiday’s lifestyle had taken it’s toll on her voice but she still managed to record, albeit now with a rougher sounding voice. She gave her final performance in New York City on May 25 1959. She died from alcohol and drug related complications in July that same year.
Over 3,000 people turned out for her funeral at the St. Paul the Apostle Roman Catholic Church on July 21, 1959. Holiday influenced many other performers who followed in her footsteps and is considered to be one of the best jazz vocalists of all time. In 2000 she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.