Billie Holiday
Jazz Singer and Rebel
Billie Holiday 1915-1959
Billie Holiday was one of the most interesting and respected jazz singers in the 1920’s. She grew up out of wedlock and in poverty to her 13 and 15 year old parents. While she was little, she adored music but her young parents could not afford music of any kind. So, she ran errands for near-by brothels and prostitutes and in-return they let her listen to their Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith albums. Growing up was rough for any kid,but things only got worse for Billie. she was sexually abused,sent to a all black girls home for a year, and moved all over the place while supporting herself by singing and prostitution. Eventually,the singing career started to kick off and she was signed into a major label company where she produced dozens of top hits and films before dying from her battle over drug addiction.
What Billie Believed in..
Billie believed in two things: The rebel against prohibition and music. She sung and spoke about rebelling and creating something different. She thought Jazz would change the world and society. She was a iconic vision for all the young people out there who were looking for a voice. She gave them that through her music and own struggle through substance abuse.She changed the way people thought about what music meant. She put the idea of it being a message and a change in the minds of every young soul while she was alive.
And to see just how amazing she was,here's a video to show how she changed everything... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtqjW2uhBT4
"Billie Holiday." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Biography in Context. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.
"Billie Holiday." Notable Black American Women. Gale, 1992. Biography in Context. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.