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    • July 17, 1959July 17, 1959
  2. Billie Holiday died in Metropolitan Hospital, New York, on Friday, July 17, 1959, in the bed in which she had been arrested for illegal possession of narcotics a little more than a month before, as she lay mortally ill; in the room from which a police guard had been removed – by court order – only a few hours before her death.

    • Billie Dove

      Early life and career. Dove was born Bertha Eugenie Bohny in...

    • Lester Young

      Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959),...

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      Johann Eduard Hari (born 21 January 1979) is a Scottish...

  3. Apr 10, 2021 · She was fingerprinted, interrogated, and had a booking photo taken in her hospital bed with no attorney present, according to what Hari told WNYC. The bureau put a guard outside of her room and took the flowers and letters fans and friends had sent, and even took her record player, according to Legacy .

    • Amy Beeman
    • Who Was Billie Holiday?
    • Early Life
    • Songs
    • Lady Day
    • "Strange Fruit"
    • Henry Anslinger and The Federal Bureau of Narcotics
    • Personal Problems
    • Later Years
    • Death and Legacy

    Billie Holiday is considered one of the best jazz vocalists of all time, Holiday had a thriving career as a jazz singer for many years before she lost her battle with substance abuse. Also known as Lady Day, her autobiography was made into the 1972 film Lady Sings the Blues. In 2000, Holiday was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

    Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan on April 7, 1915, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Some sources say her birthplace was Baltimore, Maryland, and her birth certificate reportedly reads "Elinore Harris.") Holiday spent much of her childhood in Baltimore, Maryland. Her mother, Sadie, was only a teenager when she had her. Her father is widely believed to...

    At the age of 18, Holiday was discovered by producer John Hammond while she was performing in a Harlem jazz club. Hammond was instrumental in getting Holiday recording work with an up-and-coming clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman. With Goodman, she sang vocals for several tracks, including her first commercial release "Your Mother's Son-In-La...

    Around this time, Holiday met and befriended saxophonist Lester Young, who was part of Count Basie's orchestra on and off for years. He even lived with Holiday and her mother Sadie for a while. Young gave Holiday the nickname "Lady Day" in 1937 — the same year she joined Basie's band. In return, she called him "Prez," which was her way of saying th...

    Striking out on her own, Holiday performed at New York's Café Society. She developed some of her trademark stage persona there — wearing gardenias in her hair and singing with her head tilted back. During this engagement, Holiday also debuted two of her most famous songs, "God Bless the Child" and "Strange Fruit." Columbia, her record company at th...

    In 1939, after singing her song “Strange Fruit,” Holiday received a warning from the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, a government agency which lasted from 1930 to 1968, to never sing the song again. Holiday refused and kept singing the song. FBN commissioner Harry Anslinger believed Holiday to be the symbol of everything that America had to be afraid ...

    That same year, Holiday had a hit with "God Bless the Child." She later signed with Decca Records in 1944 and scored an R&B hit the next year with "Lover Man." Her boyfriend at the time was trumpeter Joe Guy, and with him she started using heroin. After the death of her mother in October 1945, Holiday began drinking more heavily and escalated her d...

    While her hard living was taking a toll on her voice, Holiday continued to tour and record in the 1950s. She began recording for Norman Granz, the owner of several small jazz labels, in 1952. Two years later, Holiday had a hugely successful tour of Europe. Holiday also caught the public's attention by sharing her life story with the world in 1956. ...

    Holiday gave her final performance in New York City on May 25, 1959. Not long after this event, Holiday was admitted to the hospital for heart and liver problems. She was so addicted to heroin that she was even arrested for possession while in the hospital. On July 17, 1959, Holiday died from alcohol- and drug-related complications. More than 3,000...

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  5. Aug 25, 2020 · Meeropol came across a 1930 photo that captured the lynching of two Black men in Indiana. The visceral image haunted him for days and prompted him to put pen to paper. After he published...

  6. Jul 17, 2022 · Billie Holiday passed away on July 17, 1959, of pulmonary edema and heart failure caused by cirrhosis, or liver disease, in the Metropolitan Hospital in New York. The cirrhosis was brought on...

  7. Apr 7, 2015 · To mark what would have been the 100th birthday of one of the greatest singers in music history, here are images of her life. Mee-Lai Stone and Guardian music. Tue 7 Apr 2015 08.59 EDT 13.40 EST....

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