Lady Day Informative Speech

Billie Holiday, or as her friends called her “Lady Day” was an African-American jazz singer who had a phenomenal voice. She was born April 7, 1915, in Philadelphia, PA. She was known for her trademark of wearing gardenias in her hair, and throwing back her head when she sang. In her late teenage years she was discovered by John Hammond and recorded her first record led by a studio group under Benny Goodman, who was a prominent figure in the entertainment business.
Holiday’s voice was so powerful and unique that still today no one has been able to imitate, or come close to sounding like her. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame an honor that was not given to too many people during her time, and a statue of Holiday still stands

today at the corner of Lafayette and Pennsylvania Avenues in Baltimore, MD.
Holiday borrowed her name from screen star Billie Dove. She never had any formal training on how to read music. She just had a gift that came naturally to sing jazz. Holiday began working with Columbia Records in the 1930s. She was then introduced to the poem “Strange Fruit.” The poem was about a black man being lynched. Holiday wanted to create the poem into a song, however, Columbia would not allow her to record it due to the subject of it. She did eventually record the song under a different label, Commodore, and the song become one of her best classics of all times.
Many of her songs referenced bad relationships and broken hearts. Some of her popular recordings were “My Man” and “T’ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do.” The songs gave a close look into her failed relationships, which were abusive and left her heart broken. She went on to marry in 1941 to James Monroe. He was known for his drinking and destructive behavior. Soon Holiday began to mimic his behavior with drinking and smoking opium. They eventually divorced but that did not stop Holiday from continuing down a road of destruction.
Holiday went on to publish her life story through an autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues (1956). Although, the book waws collaborated with William Dufty, Holiday claimed to never have read the book. It is believed that during this time she was at her worse dealing with substance abuse. She died an untimely death at the young age of 44.