Childhood & Early Life
Billie Holiday was born in Philadelphia on April 7, 1915 to Sarah Juliah and Clarance Holiday who were neither married nor living together. She faced a challenging childhood. Her father, who was a jazz guitarist, left them to pursue a career in music. Her mother Sarah had to keep Billie in Baltimore at Eva Miller’s house, who was Sarah’s half sister. The first ten years, she was mostly raised by Martha Miller, the mother-in-law of Eva.
On January 5, 1925, a juvenile court sent her to Catholic reform school ‘The House of the Good Shepherd’ due to her truancy in school. On December 24, 1926, her neighbor Wilbur Rich attempted rape on her. She was sent to the protective custody of ‘House of the Good Shepherd’. Her mother left for Harlem in New York in 1928, leaving her with Martha Miller. She joined her mother in Harlem in 1929, who by that time had become a prostitute. Within no time, Billie also began working as a prostitute even before the age of 14. The brothel was raided on May 2, 1929, when both of them were taken into custody. While her mother was released in July, she was released in October.
Career
Billie Holiday started her music career in 1929 with neighbor Kenneth Hollan. During 1929 to 1931, they performed at various clubs including ‘Brooklyn Elks’ Club’, ‘Grey Dawn’ and ‘Mexico’s’. In 1932, she was inducted at a club at West 132nd Street replacing singer Monette Moore where Producer John Hammond heard her. In November 1933, her voice was recorded for the first time under the arrangement of John Hammond. Her two songs along with Benny Goodman were released on November 11. One of them, ‘Riffin’ the Scotch’ was an instant hit and saw a whopping sale of 5,000 copies.
In 1935, she played a part in the musical short ‘Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life’ starring Duke Ellington. It featured her in a song ‘Saddest Tale’ sung by her. She signed with ‘Brunswick Records’ and collaborated with Teddy Wilson to record pop music in swing style. Their first record ‘What a Little Moonlight Can Do’ gave her recognition as an artist.
From 1936 to 1938, she, along with Teddy Wilson, appeared in a series of phenomenal performances co-produced by Bernie Hanighen and John Hammond. Tunes like ‘Twenty-Four Hours a Day’ were turned into jazz classics by the two singers.
Billie Holiday had a brief encounter with jazz pianist Count Basie in 1937 when she joined a band as a vocalist. The band moved from one city to another performing one-nighters in different clubs. In 1938, she became the first black woman to team up with a white orchestra when she was hired by Artie Shaw. In March 1938, they both were broadcast on WABC now WCBS, a famous radio station in New York. ‘Any Old Time’ was the only song she could record with Shaw.
In 1939, she performed ‘Strange Fruit’ in ‘Cafe Society’, a nightclub. She subsequently recorded it for ‘Commodore Records’ and later for ‘Verve”. It eventually became a big hit. Songs that she performed with Teddy Wilson during the 1930s were recorded in 1944 by Commodore. She also recorded her version of ‘Embraceable You’, which was inducted into the ‘Grammy Hall of Fame’ in 2005.
In September 1946, she starred in a film, ‘New Orleans’, opposite Woody Herman and Louis Armstrong. The track ‘The Blues Are Brewin’ was recorded by her. She had several music releases from 1949 till 1959, including full-length albums. Her October 1949 recorded song ‘Crazy He Calls Me’ for ‘Decca’ was counted as her most successful rendition. Her autobiography ‘Lady Sings The Blues’ was published in 1956 by Doubleday. Her final album ‘Billie Holiday’ was released with MGM in 1958.
Major Works
Her first record with Teddy Wilson ‘What a Little Moonlight Can Do’ became a trendsetter in jazz music. In 1941, her song ‘God Bless the Child’ became a major hit, selling millions of records. It reached the 25th rank in the charts and was placed in the third position as the song of the year in Billboard. The pop hit ‘Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be)’ specifically written for her is still her highest charted hit.
Personal Life & Legacy
On August 25, 1941, Billie married Jimmy Monroe, a trombonist but divorced him in 1947. She married Louis McKay on March 28, 1957, who was a Mafia enforcer but separated later. Though issueless, Bevan Dufty and singer Billie Lorraine Feather were her two godchildren. On July 17, 1959, she died in New York due to cirrhosis of the liver and was buried in Bronx County, New York at Saint Raymond’s Cemetery. She was arrested in NY on May 16, 1947, for possessing narcotics and sentenced to ‘Alderson Federal Prison Camp’ in West Virginia. She was released early due to good behavior on March 16, 1948. She was arrested on January 22, 1949, at San Francisco’s Hotel Mark Twain.
