Billie Holiday

The quintessential jazz singer, Billie Holiday seemed to stamp her heart onto everything she sang. With a thin, reedy voice and almost laconic style, she could give even a throwaway pop song a gut-wrenching twist. Her most memorable music is loaded with an intensity of emotion--both playfulness and despair--that few can match. From the mid-1930s to the mid-1940s, Lady Day was at her peak, recording numerous sessions with other jazz heavyweights such as Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Lester Young, and many more. In the late '40s, however, Holiday's romantic and substance-related problems led to trouble with the law and declining health, both of which would continue until her death in 1959. Her personal misfortunes ensured she would make headlines in her day; her one-of-a-kind talent made her a legend for the ages.

• jazz
• vocal
• united states
• 1970s
• 1990s
• 1950s
• 1980s
• 2000s