Billie Holiday
...most of her poverty stricken childhood in Baltimore. Lady Day, as she was named by
Lester Young, had to overcome many tragedies in her lifetime and yet still became one of the
most popular jazz-blues vocalists of all time.
Billie's Parents, Sally Fagan and Clarence Holiday, were both born in Baltimore. They
married as teens and soon Sally gave birth to Eleanora Fagan. Shortly after the birth, Clarence
Holiday deserted his family to tour with Fletcher Henderson's band. Billie saw little of her
immediate family and she essentially grew up alone, feeling unloved and gaining a lifelong
inferiority complex that led to her taking great risks with her personal life. At age ten Billie was
victimized in a violent rape. When older she worked at a brothel were she cleaned the floors, it
was here that she first listened to the likes of Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith.
In 1927 she moved to New York City and not knowing any other life she made a living
prostituting herself. She still kept her dream of someday becoming a singer and eventually
convinced the manager of a small nightclub in the city to let her sing a few songs with the house
band. The crowd loved her singing and she was soon discovered by John Hammond. He arranged
for her to record a couple of titles with Benny Goodman in 1933. Although those were not all
that successful, it was the start of her career.
In 1935 she meet up with a pianist named Teddy Wilson, who was in a pick up band. She
traveled with the band for a while and hit it off. People were beginning to learn about a great
singer who had a fresh new style that was a combination of Louis Armstrong's swinging and
Bessie Smith's sound. Over the next seven years she would go on to record some of the greatest
songs of her career. Lady Day was with Count Basie's Orchestra during much of 1937 but, she
was soon kicked out by Count...
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