Billie Holiday Biography: The Unforgettable Lady Day Feminism, Strange Fruit Controversies, Relationships, Rumors and More
By Chris Dicker
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About this ebook
Billie Holiday, also known as the Lady Day was a very talented jazz and blues singer during the Great Depression and beyond in the United States. She lived and coped during the most difficult times in the United States, especially when it comes to gender inequality, racism and discrimination. In fact, some of her songs were considered "protest songs" against racism. The most controversial song of Billie Holiday was "Strange Fruit," which both fascinated and embraced black feminism. Billie Holiday was the singer of the resistance for blacks during that time.
It was very difficult for a woman to succeed during the Great Depression in 1930s. Often she sang for pennies to make the ends meet. Billie Holiday was very honest and open to her audience. She was mostly singing and producing albums for minorities, rather than the mainstream. Billie Holiday was "Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr." combined in the music industry. She embraced the pain and channeled it through her songs. It created deep and strong bond with her listeners.
Billie Holiday (Lady Day) was one of the most significant jazz singers ever recorded. Again, her struggles and her pain can be heard in her music. She evolved from a typical torch singer into being a real innovator, singing songs about racism and injustice. Her life was reflected in her music. This what helped her to stand out from the rest of the musicians.
There were times where Billie Holiday was more famous for her wrong doings than her true talent. She was arrested multiple times for possession of drugs. Her addictions to drug and alcohol often went out of control, making her professional and personal life a disaster. You'll learn more about this here.
In this biography, you'll also learn into some depth who Billie Holiday really was as a person. What happened to her family? Who were her idols and influences for her music and much more. There were instances where the Lady Day was actually raped while a kid, and how all those difficulties shaped her as a person many people admire to this day.
If you want to learn more about Billie Holiday, her legacy and true talent.
Grab this biography now!
Chris Dicker
I love writing biographies about celebrities (dead or alive), because there's so much to learn from those people. Success leaves clues, so I study and write about successful people.
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Billie Holiday Biography - Chris Dicker
Billie Holiday Biography: The Unforgettable Lady Day Feminism, Strange Fruit Controversies, Relationships, Rumors and More
Chris Dicker
Published By Chris Dicker At Smashwords
Copyright © 2018 Chris Dicker
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Book cover image photographed by William P. Gottlieb at the Downbeat Jazz Club in NYC on February 1947. [Digital ID gottlieb.04251 from the United States Library of Congress's Music Division] [Public Domain]
Table of Contents
Introduction
Childhood and Family Background
Billie’s New Life in New York City
Billie’s Early Success
Billie and Racism
Getting Established
Lady Day
Drug Use
Billie’s Relationships
Billie Gets Into Trouble
Billie Gets Into Trouble Again
Comeback
The End of Her Life
Introduction
Billie Holiday is an incredible singer. She was an innovator who knew how to reach people and stir the listener's soul. Her song, Strange Fruit
was a career changer. It was a vivid and bold account of a black man being lynched. She knew how to make the audience remember her. Even her torch ballads such as, What a little moonlight can do,
put her unique and distinct voice on display.
She was a woman who was also known for her tragedies and struggles. From segregation to drug addiction, Billie went through it all. She was starting her career during the Great Depression in 1930, and she sang for pennies to make the ends meet. She worked for a Madam and was arrested for prostitution and possession of heroin. Known by her musician peers as, Lady Day,
she brought dignity and depth to each one of her performances, and this was just the beginning of her story.
She started out in life as Eleanora Fagan, coming into this world the daughter of two teenagers who