Billie Holiday: Born 100 Years Ago Today
Born Eleanora Fagan in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, “Lady Day” first rose to prominence while living and singing in New York’s Harlem neighborhood. She led a famously turbulent life — far too rich and complex to recount adequately in this space — but one which informed and enriched her powerful and innovative music.
The Web is chockablock with resources from which you can learn more about her life and remarkable legacy; a roadmap to the best of which can be found by clicking her highlighted name above and visiting Billie’s PeekYou profile.
To start you on your way, here’s a remarkable performance of “Fine and Mellow”, live on CBS-TV — accompanied by a number of fellow legends such as saxophonists Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins — in 1957.
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