Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday, born Eleanora Fagan was an American jazz and swing music singer. Holiday was born on April 7th, 1915, in Philadelphia. Not long after she was born, her father abandoned the family to pursue his career as a jazz banjo player and guitarist. She grew up in Baltimore serving on passenger railroads. After attending kindergarten at St. Frances Academy, she often skipped school, and on January 5th, 1925, Holiday was brought before the juvenile court, when she was nine years old, after being picked up by truancy. She was sent to the House of the Good Shepherd, a Catholic reform school, and baptized on March 19th, 1925. Nine months later, on October 3rd, 1925 she was "paroled" to her mother, Sarah Julia "Sadie" Fagan; by age 11 Holiday dropped out of school. Her mother also opened a restaurant called the East Side Grill, where she and Holiday worked long hours. According to Wikipedia, one year later, on December 24th, 1926, Sarah Fagan came home to discover a neighbor, Wilbur Rich, attempting to rape Holiday. She successfully fought him back, and Wilbur Rich was arrested. After the incident, officials placed Holiday under protective custody in the, House of the Good Shepherd, as a state witness in the rape case. In February 1927, when she was nearly twelve years old, Holiday was released.

By the end of 1928, Holiday's mother moved to Harlem, and by early 1929 she joined her mother in Harlem. Their landlady, Florence Williams, ran a brothel at 151 West 140th Street. Holiday's mother became a prostitute, and within days of arriving in New York, Holiday became a victim of sexual trafficking; five dollars per client. On May 2nd, 1929, the house was raided and Holiday and her mother were sent to prison. She was releases in October, and her mother was released in July. During her young teen years, she began singing in Harlem nightclubs. She eventually teamed up with a neighbor, Kenneth Hollan, performing at clubs like "Pod's and Jerry's" and "Elks' Club," from 1929 to 1931. As her popularity grew, she went on to play in various clubs, like the Alhambra Bar and Grill. In November 1933, at the age of eighteen producer, John Hammond arranged to make her recording debut. She recorded two songs: "Your Mother's Son In Law," which sold 300 copies, and "Riffin' the Scotch," which sold 5,000 copies.

In 1935, Holiday had a small role in Duke Ellington's musical short film Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life, singing "Saddest Tale" in her scene. She also signed t Brunswick to record pop tunes with pianist, Teddy Wilson in the swing style for the growing jukebox trade. One year later she began recording under her own name for Vocalion. Billie Holiday's recordings between 1936 and 1942 marked her peak years, including her biggest selling record "Strange Fruit". During the late 1930's, in the middle of recording for Columbia, Holiday was introduced to "Strange Fruit", a song based on a poem abut lynching written by, Abel Meeropol. She went on to perform at club Café Society in 1939, where she had waiters silence the crowd when the song began. Producers at Columbia found the subject too sensitive, and instead it was recorded for Commodore Records label on April 20th, 1939. For twenty years the record remained in her repertoire. Although the Commodore release got no airplay, the song sold well. Milt Gabler believed that the song only sold well due to the record's other side, "Fine and Mellow". Billie Holiday recorded the song again for Verve, yet the version she recorded for Commodore "became [her] biggest selling record".

In 1947, Holiday was arrested for possession of narcotics. She spent one year in Alderson Federal Prison Camp, losing her New York City Cabaret Card, which prevented her from working anywhere that sold alcohol. She continued to perform in concert and clubs outside of New York City, making several tours during her later years. Her constant struggle with heroin addiction affected her voice, it didn't affect her technique. In 1956 she wrote and autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues with William Dufty, which was eventually made into a motion picture, starring Diana Ross.

By early 1959, Billie Holiday was diagnosed with cirrhosis. On May 31st, 1959, she was taken to Metropolitan Hospital in New York for treatment of liver and heart disease. According to Wikipedia, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, had been targeting Holding since 1939. She was eventually arrested and handcuffed for drug possession, and as she lay dying , her hospital was raided, and she was placed under police guard. On July 15th she received the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church, and passed away at 3:10 A.M. on July 17th, 1959, at 44 years old. Her funeral was held on July 21st,1959, at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, and she was buried at Saint Raymond's Cemetery.