Billie Holiday Essays

Billie Holiday is one of the most influential jazz singers of her time. Her attitude, determination and most of all her music inspired artists throughout time and inspired major social change. Throughout her lifetime she explored the world of jazz, her identity, and how far the limits of her talent would take her. She exchanged her poor life, full of drugs and scandal for a life of performing the arts and showcasing her talents and abilities. Her incredible determination led her to do what she loved

Eleanor Feagan, most commonly known as Billie Holiday, was an American jazz musician and singer-songwriter who had a career lasting nearly 30 years. The way she sang had been strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists and introduced a new way of controlling phrasing and tempo. She carried an abundant amount of emotion and character in her voice, in addition to her material. Holiday is one of the most influential jazz musicians of all time and has had an everlasting influence on American music. The

Billie Holiday could be considered one of the most influential women in jazz, if not one of the most influential women in general. She was one of the first to incorporate anti-racist ideals and progressive thoughts through the outlet of music, influencing many others down the road. Her intense desire for equality and change could be due to the immense amounts of hardship during her younger years, which may have very well carried over into her adult singing career. Billie Holiday was abandoned at

jazz was born. Her name was Billie Holiday. Her life was marked by tumult and poverty; however, through the many hardships she faced, she remained strong and determined. Today, she is regarded as one of the best jazz vocalists of all time. Her renowned voice was distinct due to her abundant use different tones and with her ever changing range. In addition, Billie took the pain that she experienced throughout her life and conveyed it through song. Influential to jazz, Billie Holiday’s life and her music

Billie Holiday was an influential and famous jazz artist. Holiday had a good career for many years before she died of drug addiction. She was born on 7th April 1915, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At birth, she was named Eleanor Fagan, and based on some sources, her birth certificate reports that she was named Eleanor Harris. She was born to a teenage mother, Sadie and father Clarence Holiday who was also a thriving Jazz artist. Unfortunately, her father was absent during most of her life, especially

Billie Holiday lived a tumultuous life as she went through many ups and downs during her childhood and into her adulthood. Billie Holiday was only eighteen years old when she was discovered singing in nightclubs and soon found great success as a jazz singer. In spite of her lack of musical training, Holiday’s distinct singing caught the attention of her audience and she became one of the greatest jazz singers of the twentieth century. However, despite the remarkable success Billie achieved, she continuously

“Billie Holiday … did what she liked. If a man she liked came up, she’d go with him; if a woman, the same thing. If she was handed a drink, she’d drink it. If you had a stick of pot, she’d take a cab ride on her break and smoke it. If you had something stronger, she’d use that. …. She didn’t apologize for it and she didn’t feel ashamed. All she wanted was to have fun in whatever way it struck her. She was sensitive, she was proud…. She had a real zest for life. As a performer, she could make you

• On April 7th, 1915, Eleanora Fagan was born to Sarah Fagan and Clarence Holiday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. • Sadly, her father left Eleanora and her mother to pursue a music career. Her mother could not support Eleanora so she was sent to live with her aunt in Baltimore, Maryland.0 • Because of her difficult childhood, Eleanora dropped out of school and moved to Harlem, where she began her music career. She worked hard and despite horrible circumstances in her life, she kept on going and

“One of Billie Holiday's most iconic songs is "Strange Fruit," a haunting protest against the inhumanity of racism” (Blair ). “Strange Fruit” was written by Abel Meeropol and published in 1937. Billie Holiday then went to to sing “Strange Fruits” in 1939, it quickly became one of her most requested songs. Abel Meeropol had once witnessed seeing a photograph of a lynching, aghast by what he had just seen, he decided to compose a poem about it. My overall response to the poem was stupefied because

“Strange Fruit” is a song written by Abel Meeropol and was made famous by the singer Billie Holliday. The big release of the song was in 1939, although it was written a few years before. Meeropol was weary about letting it out to the larger public, so he had it played in meetings, benefits, and house parties. Meeropol originally wrote it as a poem, which was inspired by a photograph of lynching. The song has historical context and is better understood once the listener knows some of the background

Madonna, Elvis Presley & Billie Holiday: Exceptional Music Artists Do you know who “The Queen of Pop”, “Lady Day”, and “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” are? These are all exceptional music artists who are successful in the music industry. Madonna, also known as the “Queen of Pop '', has a controversial fashion style and a passion for dancing. Billie Holiday was in the Rock’n’ Roll Hall of Fame and struggled to become the fabulous jazz

Being one of the first women to work with an-all white orchestra, Billie Holiday was well recognized for many of her attributions. Her musical career has continued to keep Holiday a legendary icon even after her death. Billie Holiday won 5 Grammy Awards throughout her career and was inducted into the Women's Hall of Fame thanks to her wonderful voice. Regardless of any personal issues, Holiday has always had a way of touching people's hearts. Her impact is still widely recognized today. Before you

Movement through the use of music are Nina Simone and Billie Holiday. Simone is an American singer who sang a mix of blues, jazz, and folk music. She was known for songs like “ Young, Gifted and Black,” “ Four Woman,” and “ Mississippi Goddam.” Holiday is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of all time. She was addicted to heroin and in 1959 she died from a drug and alcohol problem. Although Nina Simone’s “ Mississippi Goddam”and Billie Holiday’s “ Strange Fruit” are about different events

In this piece of song, it sounds like Billie Holiday is leading the track. When you listen to the song, singer’s voice is very prominent. Usually in the music, instruments and singer’s voice are harmonized well together. However, in this song, instruments are complementing into her voice. Especially in the dynamics part, it is easily known that the instruments are following to her lead; the instruments are always a bit behind her voice. Also, it feels like there is really no exact rhythm to this

the unfortunate death of Billie Holiday. Her life was quite rough, and her steps into the music industry were difficult in her life in order for her to reach. From a young age, jazz music was a peak of interest that stuck closely with Holiday until the end of her life. Her experiences in her lifetime left deep emotional scars that she was unable to heal due to a negligent father, and her dealings with drugs, which in time were the cause of her sudden death. Though Billie Holiday’s career may have

Eleanora Fagan, better known by her stage name Billie Holiday, was born on April 7, 1915 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was a famous Jazz performer, recognized for fragile, raspy voice that was etched with emotion as she sang and her geniuse imporvisation skills. Billie became one of the first African American vocalists to work with a white orchestra (Artie Shaw and his band) and tour the Southern U.S, which at the time was segregated. Several of her songs including “What a Little Moonlight Can Do”,

substantially minimise it by employing facts, direct quotations, and a disciplined use (or disuse) of hyperbolic and implicative language. In Johann Hari’s “The Hunting of Billie Holiday,” Hari depicts a relatively unbiased version of the events surrounding the Federal Bureau of Narcotics’ pursuit of the famous African-American singer, Billie Holiday. The article frequently references specific events and individuals in its account and employs frequent use of direct quotations from primary sources such as FBN

we view the world, but our everyday thoughts and actions. It has the power to inspire great revolutions, to be the catalyst to social and political change and to ignite the spark of social consciousness even within those who live apolitically. Billie Holiday is an artist whose work had the capacity of not only reflecting cultural and social developments of her time and exploring the themes of social injustice and racism, but of sparking a new level of social consciousness within society with her performance

Tempo: (Describe the speed of the music, compare it to the other song.) The tempo in the song Back in Your Own BackYard by Billie Holiday can be described as a moderate to medium speed. The song is not extremely slow or fast, it is just in the middle. This jazz song is fast enough for it to be upbeat, but slow enough to allow the vocals to take its time and have range. Compared to “Flying Home” by Ella Fitzgerald, this song is a lot slower and less fierce. What are the lyrics about? The lyrics are

yet Billie Holiday stands out as a sincere artist with a style all her own. While many artists used the characteristic scat singing, Holiday rarely sang the gibberish words and focused on the meaning of the song through her intense yet quiet voice. Despite the common Tin Pan Alley technique of plugging out songs simply to promote the sheet music, Holiday explored improvisation and made each song her own. Through her jazz improvisation, sincerity, and manipulation of phrasing, Billie Holiday created