Billie Holiday Centennial

[ProblemAgain]

Billie Holiday, Protest Singer: The Story and Staying Power of ‘Strange Fruit’

The Reverend Shawn AmosWriterApril 7, 2015

April 7 marks the 100th birthday of American jazz singer Billie Holiday. Her life and early death at age 44 have been the inspiration for generations of singers, from Janis Joplin to Amy Winehouse. “Lady Day” (as nicknamed by frequent collaborator and close friend, saxophonist Lester Young) had a meteoric rise and a fast crash fueled by drugs and booze. She has become the very definition of both the glorious strong-willed diva and the tragic lonely chanteuse.

https://www.yahoo.com/music/billie-holiday-protest-singer-the-story...

[frenchy]

yeah it wasn''t just rock stars that got high and partied till all hours of the night .live fast and die young ..  it was goin on for years and years before they invented rock and roll .. rock musicians just perfected it .. 

[blithe spirit]

Nice she did some recording. She left something behind I guess. So many gifted artists seem to have similar issues...addictions...difficult relationships...rough lives in general..sad.

[ProblemAgain]

kind of hard to overcome your upbringing with a neighbor tryiong to rape you at 11 and your mom enlisting you to be a hooker by 14. the amazing thing is that some of these folks leave anything behind at all.