Nina Simone

Play Radio
Listen to Nina Simone Radio, featuring artists like Chris Connor, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James and more…

23,556,259 plays (1,235,152 listeners)

Shop now at Amazon | Send Nina Simone Ringtones to Cell
Buy
Add to my Library

Tryon, North Carolina, USA (1954 – 2003)

Eunice Kathleen Waymon (21 February 1933 – 21 April 2003), better known by her stage name Nina Simone, was an American , pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with music. Simone aspired to become a classical pianist while working in a broad range of styles including , , , , , , , and .

Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon on 21st February 1933 in Tryon, North Carolina, USA, one of eight children. Like a number of other black singers in the U.S., she was inspired as a child by Marian Anderson, and began singing at her local church, also showing great talent as a pianist. Her public debut, a piano recital, was made at the age of ten. Her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white audience members. This incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement.

Simone’s mother, Mary Kate Waymon (who lived into her late nineties) was a strict Methodist minister; her father, John Divine Waymon, was a handyman and sometime barber who suffered bouts of ill-health. Mrs Waymon worked as a maid, and her employer, hearing of Nina’s talent, provided funds for piano lessons for the little girl. Subsequently, a local fund was set up to assist in Eunice’s continued education.
Read more… Edit bio

Popular tags: , , , ,  See more

Share this artist:

Top Albums

  • My Baby Just Cares for Me
    Nina Simone Play
    Buy

    New

  • Forbidden Fruit
    Nina Simone Play
    Buy

    New

  • The Essential Nina Simone
    Nina Simone Play
    Buy
  • Little Girl Blue
    Nina Simone Play
    Buy
See more

Top Tracks

1
4,652
2
3,057
3
2,136
4
1,909
5
1,205
6
1,054
7
1,042
8
1,039
9
816
10
785
11
720
12
688
13
596
14
573
15
539
Buy all tracks at Amazon MP3
See more

Shoutbox

Leave a comment. Log in to Last.fm or sign up (it’s free).
See all 1,120 shouts

Videos

See more

News

To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story Deluxe Box Set

24 Aug 2008 | from blog.myspace.com/ninasimone

    In the grand hierarchy of the greatest African-American female vocalists of the 20th century – Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Mahalia Jackson, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, and ...

Add comment

See more

Listening Now

Top Listeners

See more

More Information

Links
Labels

Email Newsletter

Universal Music Group Get exclusive tour, release & promotion updates on Nina Simone from Universal Music.