Billie Holiday Research Paper

It was no wonder why Billie Holiday was considered to be the woman of jazz, her sweet velvet voice carried the crowd. With hits like strange fruit that told a darker story it was easy to see where her passion came from. She told stories in her music and people across the nation were more than willing to sit down and listen to what she had to say. Billie Holiday was an icon of her time and there was not a person who listened to jazz that could say they did not know her name. Her voice was smooth with a hint of seduction that had her audiences reeling. However, things were not always so glamourous.

Eleanora Fagan Gough was born on April 7th, 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Eleanora grew up in Baltimore in the 1920s and during time that

city was roaring with jazz music. There was so much talent that surrounded the young Eleanora which inspired her music filled aspirations. She wanted to share the same talent with the others that surrounded her. When Eleanora became a teen she started her career with impressive apprenticeships with singing along with artists such as Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith at clubs. These two artists were the high hitters of the time and it was incredible that a young teen would be able to keep up with such outstanding artists. Audiences were captivated by her unique voice that seemed to fit in with artists like Lewis Armstrong. Eleanora’s mother decided that it was time to pack the bag and move the fabulous New York City. Eleanora followed suit and decided it was time for a change.
Eleanora Fagan Gough became known as the newly named Billie Holliday.

Her name change was based off her lover for Billie dove, a film star, and she became known in the clubs she performed at as Lady Day. Together she came up with the idea of Billie Holliday and that would stick to be her professional stage name for the rest of her career. Billie made her debut in Harlem nightclubs and she took off. With no technical training and no knowledge of reading music it was astonishing how talented this woman was. She moved around the jazz scene, club after club, collecting tips. When she was 18 Billie Holiday was seen by John Hammond who worked with Benny Goodman. Then in 1935 her career she recorded tracks that became hits and this lead her to get her won recording contract. Then, in 1942 she recorded a number of tracks that would help build early American Jazz

music.
In 1936 Billie began working with Lester Young which led to her working with Count Basie in 1937 and Artie Shaw in 1938.

She was also one of the first black women to work with an all-white orchestra which was impressive considering the time. Holiday began to work with Columbia records and was introduced the poem, “Strange Fruit.” The record label would not record this track because of the content but that did not stop Billie. She found an alternative record label that would record the track which became one her most known songs. Billie went on to record around 100 tracks with Verve during 1952 to 1959. Her voice transformed into a raw and vulnerable which added a new found soul into her later tracks. During this period she toured Europe and made her final recordings with MGM in 1959. Billie Holiday went on musical journey that most musicians would kill for but, not all of it was

pleasant.
As Holiday became more famous she turned to alcohol and drug use like most musicians during the time. She also was in abusive relationships that only seemed to make her have this rawness which transcended into her voice. For most of her life Billie Holiday participated in the use of recreational drugs. She started with marijuana and she used at the early age of thirteen. This usage did not really affect her and it was until she tried another drug her audience would see a difference. Heroin would be the undoing of Billie holiday. She began to heavily use heroin around the 1940s. Her success was hard on her and was easy to tell with her abusive tendencies. Her relationships took a toll on her emotionally and in some cases physically and that really was portrayed in her voice. Her youthful tone was replaced with regret and sadness.
The last years of her life were sad to say the least. She had no cabaret card and that made it impossible for her to work in New York clubs and for the last 12 years of her life. We have to imagine that this had to have a very negative on her. This was all her doing as she could not possess a cabaret card with narcotics violation. Billie Holiday was arrested for a narcotics violation in 1947 and attempted to gain sobriety by going to a rehabilitation center. This failed and when the realization that she could not play in clubs hit her she quickly returned to the use of narcotics. She eventually died at the age of 44 in the Metropolitan Hospital. The cause of death was determined to be a congestion of the lungs complicated by heart failure.
Billie Holiday was a fantastic artist with many flaws. Her voice captivated many and she seduced so many. With her being one of the first black women to work with an all-white orchestra, she influenced many. Her voice was soft like velvet and it stuck with people through centuries. She was able to make jazz timeless and became well known as the women of jazz. She was so talented and it is a shame that she came to such an early demise. Billie Holiday continues to inspire many people of many different generations.