Billie Holiday was born as Eleanora Fagan on April 7,1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Holiday had a difficult childhood and her mother forced her to move to Baltimore with her half sister. She was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Critic John Bush wrote that Holiday “changed the art of American pop vocals forever.” She only co-wrote a few songs, but several of them have become jazz standards like “God Bless the Child” and “Lady Sings the Blues”. She was made famous with 1939 recording.
I picked Billie Holiday because she is well known for her voice. I like Billie Holiday’s music because its soft and soothing to me. Her music makes you feel comfortable because it has a soft beat. Billie Holiday biggest influences were Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong. One of Billie Holiday’s song’s was named the song of the century in 1999. It was called “Strange Fruit.” This song was wrote by Abel Meeropol. He wrote a poem about it then he made a song because he was disturbed with racism in America. It was printed in a teacher’s union publication and then he played it for a New York club. It was later given to Billie Holiday. When she decided to sing “Strange Fruit” it reached millions of people.
- Brianna
#GRPROOTS #Billie Holiday





