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Billie Holiday
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Harlem, New York, U.S. (1933 – 1959)
Billie Holiday (Eleanora Fagan Gough, Philadelphia, April 7, 1915 – New York City, July 17, 1959) was an American jazz singer and songwriter.
Nicknamed Lady Day by her loyal friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday was a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. Above all, she was admired for her deeply personal and intimate approach to singing. Critic John Bush wrote that she “changed the art of American pop vocals forever. ” She co-wrote only a few songs, but several of them have become jazz standards, notably “God Bless the Child”, “Don’t Explain”, and “Lady Sings the Blues”. She also became famous for singing jazz standards written by others, including “Easy Living” and “Strange Fruit.”
Billie Holiday had a difficult childhood, which greatly affected her life and career. Not much is known about the true details of her early life, though stories of it appeared in her autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues, first published in 1956 and later revealed to contain many inaccuracies.
Her professional pseudonym was taken from Billie Dove, an actress she admired, and Clarence Holiday, her probable father. At the outset of her career, she spelled her last name “Halliday”, presumably to distance herself from her neglectful father, but eventually changed it back to “Holiday”.
Nicknamed Lady Day by her loyal friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday was a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. Above all, she was admired for her deeply personal and intimate approach to singing. Critic John Bush wrote that she “changed the art of American pop vocals forever. ” She co-wrote only a few songs, but several of them have become jazz standards, notably “God Bless the Child”, “Don’t Explain”, and “Lady Sings the Blues”. She also became famous for singing jazz standards written by others, including “Easy Living” and “Strange Fruit.”
Billie Holiday had a difficult childhood, which greatly affected her life and career. Not much is known about the true details of her early life, though stories of it appeared in her autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues, first published in 1956 and later revealed to contain many inaccuracies.
Her professional pseudonym was taken from Billie Dove, an actress she admired, and Clarence Holiday, her probable father. At the outset of her career, she spelled her last name “Halliday”, presumably to distance herself from her neglectful father, but eventually changed it back to “Holiday”.
Top Albums
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All Of Me
Billie HolidayBuy- Download Album
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New
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Call Me Lady, Vol. 2 (Digitally Remastered)
Billie HolidayBuy- Download Album
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New
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Solitude
Billie HolidayBuy- Download Album
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Don't Explain
Billie Holiday
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Top Tracks
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Strange Fruit
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God Bless the Child
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What a Little Moonlight Can Do
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Easy Living
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All Of Me
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| 6 |
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My Man
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| 7 |
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You're My Thrill
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Blue Moon
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I'll Be Seeing You
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| 10 |
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Gloomy Sunday
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Solitude
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| 12 |
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Summertime
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| 13 |
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The Man I Love
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| 14 |
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Body And Soul
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| 15 |
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Crazy He Calls Me
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Shoutbox
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KennH wrote:
i have discovered a profound love for her.
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kennyken07 wrote:
we have the same birthday! :)
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trashcityrocker wrote:
God Bless The Child
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carli666 wrote:
ZİGGURAT - Reverse Clockwise out now !...17 songs http://www.zigguratsite.com/
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Kaleidotroph wrote:
The only reason why I continue to retain my sanity is because of her voice. Thank you, Billie.
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smoothjazzpl wrote:
♥
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LivingPunkEgg wrote:
love her！！
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djnelo wrote:
Thanks Fallout 3 for introducing her to me! [2]
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Moofiie wrote:
I love her, too. What emotion. You can tell she *feels* the music she sings. Most "artists" these days show nothing like the depth that she shows, concerning feeling and emotion, in her music.
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Hydana wrote:
I actually love her !!
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myadron wrote:
Thanks Fallout 3 for introducing her to me!
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jenyon wrote:
i love her....)
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AuRevoirAlana wrote:
siiiiiiiiiing ittttt, billie
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HaraldUrKv wrote:
What's wrong with kids liking Billie Holiday? Hell, I wish more teenagers, like me, liked this music...instead of all the shit that isn't real music. [2] Quoted for truth.
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kairushinjuu wrote:
<3
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nulajendvatri wrote:
<3
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ith963 wrote:
Her voice... Beauty... She is the greatest..
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Songcellar wrote:
Are you listening ladies? This is how it's done.
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demi829 wrote:
She was amazing.She's still incredible!Forever!!
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rexthecat wrote:
true! what a voice!
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News
2 For 1 ICON Collectibles Billie Holiday Print Sale for Valentine's
5 Feb 2010 | from blog.myspace.com/Billie Holiday
Now through Valentine's Day, buy one 11"x14" unframed Billie Holiday pigment print and get another 11"x14" unframed print of your choice for FREE (plus FREE shipping) exclusively from Icon Collectible. …
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15 Jan 2009 | from blog.myspace.com/Billie Holiday -
15 Jan 2009 | from blog.myspace.com/Billie Holiday -
8 Aug 2007 | from blog.myspace.com/Billie Holiday
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Recent Activity
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flannelletesock, aaronw48 and MountainBear58 added Billie Holiday to their libraries. 20 minutes ago
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traumcave tagged Billie Holiday with blues, vocal jazz, female vocalists and 3 other tags. 1 hour ago
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carolyneferso, bodepreto, Uboa and 4 other people added Billie Holiday to their libraries. 2 hours ago
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n-gt_MfL tagged Billie Holiday with ‘vocal jazz’. 5 hours ago
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paoloa80 added Billie Holiday to paoloa80’s library. 7 hours ago
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micheldhersin tagged Billie Holiday with jazz vocal and female vocalists. 7 hours ago
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micheldhersin added Billie Holiday to micheldhersin’s library. 7 hours ago
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cgern tagged Billie Holiday with ‘vocal jazz’. 8 hours ago
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youmayquoteme, arterialturns, virgulanove3 and 15 other people added Billie Holiday to their libraries. 8 hours ago
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tainalon tagged Billie Holiday with ‘jazz’. yesterday evening
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