Ella Fitzgerald Singer. Born April 25, 1917, in Newport News, Virginia. (Though many biographical sources give her birth date as 1918, her birth certificate and school records show her to have been born a year earlier.) Often referred to as the "first lady of song," Fitzgerald enjoyed a career that stretched over six decades. With her lucid intonation and a range of three octaves, she became the preeminent jazz singer of her generation, recording over 2,000 songs, selling over 40 million albums, and winning 13 Grammy Awards, including one in 1967 for Lifetime Achievement. As a young girl growing up in Yonkers, just outside New York City, Fitzgerald loved music and dreamed of being a dancer. She and a friend, Charles Gulliver, performed a dance routine at the local clubs. Fitzgerald also had an early interest in singing, and was greatly influenced by Connee Boswell, the lead singer of a jazz-influenced combo called the Boswell Sisters. In 1932, Fitzgerald's mother died suddenly, and she went to live with an aunt in Harlem. Fitzgerald was "discovered" two years later, in an amateur contest at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, where she won first prize for her rendition of a Boswell song, "The Object of My Affection." She performed at the Harlem Opera House in 1935 before landing a job as the featured vocalist in one of the era's top "big bands." She made her first recording, "Love and Kisses," later that year with the band's leader, Chick Webb, on his record label, Decca. A swing version of the classic nursery rhyme, "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," that Fitzgerald co-wrote with Webb and released in 1938, became her first hit recording and made her a national star. When Webb, who had been her legal guardian, mentor, and close friend, di... ... middle of paper ... ...s with the guitarist Joe Pass. In 1974, she played a wildly profitable two-week concert engagement in New York, with fellow legends Frank Sinatra and Count Basie. Starting in the early 1970s, Fitzgerald began to suffer from eyesight problems and other ailments, complicated by diabetes. She continued to tour nationally and internationally, however, and kept up her hectic touring schedule well into the 1980s. In 1986, Fitzgerald was hospitalized for exhaustion, and later underwent a quintuple coronary bypass. By 1990, she had cut back her appearances to a few per month. In 1993, both of her legs were amputated below the knees due to circulatory system complications from her diabetes. The famously private Fitzgerald lived in Beverly Hills for many years. On June 15, 1996, she died at home at the age of 79, survived by her son, Ray Brown, Jr., and one grandchild.
Ethel Waters was born in Chester, Pennsylvania on October 31, 1896. She had a hard life in which she faced rejection from her mother and poverty. Waters' love of singing began as a child when she sang in church choirs but her childhood was cut short when at thirteen she married an abusive man, dropped out of sixth grade, and was divorced a year later. Shortly thereafter, she began working as a maid until two vaudeville producers discovered her while she was singing in a talent contest in 1917. She toured with vaudeville shows, and was billed as "Sweet Mama Stringbean" because of her height and thinness. In 1919, she left the vaudeville circuit and performed in Harlem nightclubs. Two years later she became one of the first black singers to cut a record on the Black Swan Record label with her release of "Down Home Blues" and "Oh, Daddy".
After a turbulent adolescence, Holiday started singing in dance club in Harlem, where she was heard by the maker John Hammond, who praised her voice. She marked a recording contract with Brunswick Records in 1935. Coordinated efforts with Teddy Wilson yielded the hit "What a Little Moonlight Can Do", which turned into a jazz standard. All through the 1940s, Holiday had standard accomplishment on names, for example, Columbia Records and Decca Records. By the late 1940s, in any case, she was plagued with legitimate inconveniences and medication manhandle. After a short jail sentence, she played out a sold-out show at
This led to an engagement with Chick Webb's band, and she soon became a celebrity of the swing era with performances such as A-tisket, A-tasket (1938) and Undecided (1939). She also sang in a jazz group led by her husband, Ray Brown (1948-52). She played with the philharmonic. She first performed scat when In her recording of ‘Mac the Knife’ on the album ‘Ella in Berlin’ she started scat singing because she had forgotten the words! This turned out to be one of her great recordings!! She sang “cry me a river”, “blue skies”. She then embarked on a solo career, issuing commercial and jazz recordings, and in 1946 began an association with Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic, which eventually brought her a large international
Bessie Smith was born April 15, 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She later in life became known as the “Empress of the Blues”. At the age of eighteen she being traveling with a group by the name of Moss Stokes Company. While with the group she met Ma Rainey who also became a friend and mentor to her. After traveling with the group, in 1923 she was discovered by Columbia Records. After signing with Columbia, she released her first song Downhearted Blues. The song Downhearted Blues went on to sale over 800,000 copies and became one her most popular songs. During the 1920s and 1930s she had become one of the most famous blues singers in America. During that time period Bessie recorded over 160 tracks. Because of the time period many black singers
Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of famous author F. Scott Fitzgerald, lived an extravagant life. Her life may not have been well known in the same way that her husbands was, but many people still knew of her nonetheless. Fitzgerald was born on July 24, 1900 in Montgomery, Alabama. Her family was rather well known throughout the government. Fitzgerald’s father, Anthony Dickinson Sayre, served on the Supreme Court of Alabama. Zelda’s great-uncle and grandfather served in the United States Senate. Her mother was Minnie Buckner Machen Sayre. Fitzgerald was the youngest among her five siblings. During her adolescence, she was a dancer. She also challenged the normal things a teenage girl her age would do by drinking, smoking, and socializing with boys. She
Though she received treatment and blood transfusions, she died of uremic poisoning on October 4, 1951, at age 31.
Entitled "The First Lady of Song," Ella Fitzgerald was the most famous female jazz singer in the United States for about more than half a century. In her life time, she won more than 10 Grammy Awards, and also earned the title “The First Lady of Song.”Her voice was flexible, wide-ranging, prefect and ageless. She could sing sultry ballads, jazz, blue, and imitate every several instruments. She worked with all the jazz musicians, like Duke Ellington,Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie and even Benny Goodman. She performed at top places all over the world. Her audiences were as diverse as her vocal rangeand they all loved her.
Known mostly by her stage names, “Lady Ella”, “The Queen of Jazz”, and “The First Lady of Song”; Ella Jane Fitzgerald, born in Newport News, Virginia on April 25th 1917 was renowned for her improvisational ability in her scat singing. She never
To begin with, Zelda Sayre-Fitzgerald was born in Montgomery, Alabama. Zelda came from a very prestigious, wealthy family. Growing up, Zelda was a wild and rebellious child; she was very flirtatious, spending most of the time with the boys. Zelda was well-known for being a free-spirit in her Southern society. Even though she was talked about by her peers, her father’s reputation provided her with a “free card” (“Zelda Fitzgerald n.p.).
F. Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1869, in St. Paul Minnesota and died December 21, 1940 in Hollywood by heart attack. He was the son of Edward Fitzgerald and Mary McQuillan. Neither of them were writers or had anything to do with writing for that matter so where F. Scott got his writing skills from is unknown, but it likely came from his father’s side for his father’s great-great-grandfather was the brother of Francis Scott key’s grandfather. Francis Scott Key is who F. Scott Fitzgerald is named after. He also wrote the “Star Spangle Banner”. F. Scott was the pride and joy of his parents, especially his mother; she would often show him off and make him sing and entertain when family or company came to visit. He did this till he was 15. His father was an alcoholic but had great manners that he passed on to his son. But even with being the apple in his parent’s eye he had little respect for them; he believed he was of royal blood and that he was dropped off on the Fitzgerald’s doorstep. Ever since F. Scott was a child he believed he was meant for something more, but he had no idea he’d become an American literally legend. (Donaldson)
Fitzgerald knew at a young, undeveloped age that he wanted to be a writer. Born September 24, 1986 into a broken family in Minnesota (F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great American Dreamer), it was easiest for him to turn to writing with...
25, 1931 in Chicago, Illinois. She was an African American woman, who from a young age had
Aretha Louise Franklin also known as the Queen of Soul was born on March 25, 1942 in Memphis Tennessee. She is known for being a solo singer, and also a very talented pianist. Soul, R&B, Jazz, and Gospel are genres that she sings. Throughout her career she signed with Colombia Records, along with some others, and has released many popular singles that would now be considered classical. Aretha was the first female artist to be introduced into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame. She also had to grow up sooner than many other girls because she had her first child at a very young age. Up until this day Aretha is still alive living at age seventy-two and has won many Grammy awards and is considered one of the most honored artist.
Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday were both prominent jazz singer-songwriters during the same time and masters in their own right, but their worlds could not have been further apart. In 1939, while they were both in the midst of experiencing mainstream success, Ella was touring with Ella and her Famous Orchestra and showcasing her perfect pitch and tone to the world while singing songs that would soon become standards to fellow singers and musicians. Billie was singing solo, comfortable with her limited range, and gaining the adoration of audiences nationwide who loved her soulful voice. Both of these historic singers made contributions to the art of jazz, with vocalists and instrumentalists still using elements of their style today. Ella
Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota to Mollie McQuillan, the daughter of an Irish immigrant (Fitzgerald, Bruccoli and Baughman, 1994) and charming businessman, Edward Fitzgerald (Martin, 1985). Fitzgerald was christened ‘Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald’, in honour of his second cousin, Francis Scott Key, (Ibid, 2004). Francis Scott Key was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet, from Georgetown. Key famously wrote the lyrics to the United States ' national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner" (Weybright, 2007). Fitzgerald 's mother, Mollie McQuillan, made her fortune in the wholesale grocery business (Pelzer, 2000). Fitzgerald’s father, Edward, although a businessman, Edward experienced only borderline financial success (Magill, 1999). The Fitzgerald family lived contentedly on the outskirts of the city 's most fashionable residential neighborhood, Summit Avenue, in a modest house, which was described by F. Scott Fitzgerald as “a house below the average on a street above the average” (Kane, 1976). The house has now been listed a National Historic Landmark for its association with the author of The Great Gatsby (National Historic Landmarks Program, 2007). The Fitzgeralds were supported largely and owed a lot to the liberality of the McQuillan family (Ibid,