Billie Holiday: A Short Introduction

* (T.W. sexual assault)

Hello everyone! First of all, I'd like to say thank you for coming back! I haven't posted in a very long time (October 19') and I've been hoping to come back for a while. I've been absent for a few reasons, but mainly I couldn't think about writing for fun whilst finishing my degree. I've now finished my degree (wahoo!) and I have the time & motivation to write again. I hope all of you are safe and well - I know this pandemic has been extremely tough. On another note, happy pride month to all of my lovely LGBTQIA+ supporters. I'm also sending so much love and support to my BIPOC supporters, I will always stand by you. The Black Lives Matter movement is so crucial and important and I am trying to help in any way that I can. To anyone and everyone: sign those petitions, write to your MP's, donate, educate yourself and do the work. I'm currently reading 'Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race' by Reni Eddo-Lodge and it's so informative and incredible. This post is in honor of the beautiful Billie Holiday, my favourite jazz singer.

Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959) was an American jazz singer, known by her stage name Billie Holiday, whose impressive career spanned just under 30 decades. Holiday contributed significantly to the jazz genre and has been hailed as one of the most talented singers of her age. Armed with witty personality and a remarkable story, it is no wonder she is the image of inspiration and success, but also one of hardship and trauma. Holiday’s voice encompasses the glitz and the glamour of the age, but provides insight into the tumultuous experience of being a black woman during this period. I hope this short introduction to Billie gives you an idea of who she was, and if you are looking forward to listening to her and want a few song recommendations, my favourites are ‘I’ll Be Seeing You’, ‘April in Paris’ and ‘Crazy He Calls Me’.

Billie’s childhood is difficult to read because of the unrelenting traumatic experiences she endured. Throughout this period, her father left when she was born to play jazz professionally, her mother was away often due to her job and at age 9 she often skipped school. This led to a court hearing where Billie had to attend a catholic reform school.

She survived an attempted rape at 10 and moved into protective custody at 11, worked in a brothel to earn money when she was 12, and soon became a victim of sex trafficking by her mother and landlady (who owned the brothel) at 13. This resulted in prison time for both Holiday’s mother and herself. It is painful to imagine how many of these childhood events impacted her adult life.

Billie’s musical career started in Harlem’s nightclubs at the age of 18, where she gained her first recording contract with Brunswick in 1935. Her debut single sold around 5,000 copies and Holiday was hailed revolutionary for her improvisation. She often collaboratively worked with Teddy Wilson, big-bands and then Artie Shaw. When Artie Shaw hired Holiday, it placed her amongst the first ever black women to work with a sole white orchestra. It was also the first time a black female singer toured the Southern USA (then segregated) with a white bandleader. This was revolutionary itself.

Amongst Holiday's well-known songs is ‘Strange Fruit’ because of its content addressing a very real and frightening subject matter then happening in the USA: lynching. It has been noted that she was introduced to the song, which was originally a poem written by Abel Meeropol, and performed it immediately in 1939. Since racial tensions were high at this time, it was a very courageous and brave act to do so. Holiday later recorded that the imagery of the song reminded her of her father’s death. Clarence Holiday was denied medical treatment for a deadly lung disorder due to racial discrimination. She wrote in her autobiography: "It reminds me of how Pop died, but I have to keep singing it, not only because people ask for it, but because twenty years after Pop died the things that killed him are still happening in the South".

During 1946, Holiday began working on her only major film (New Orleans) which she starred amongst other Jazz legends such as Louis Armstrong. Around this time, racism and McCarthyism did not make it easy for black actors or actresses. The producer Levey and writer Biberman decided to lessen Holiday and Armstrong’s roles to avoid the concept that black musicians created the jazz genre. Regardless of this, it failed because a year later the writer became blacklisted by Hollywood and sent to jail.

The United States of America vs. Billie Holiday (1947) was a drug possession trial, which consequently led to her conviction and sentence to prison in West Virginia. She later recorded that it felt ‘no one in the world was interested in looking out for me’ as it was announced that her own lawyer would not come to represent her. This conviction led her to lose her New York City Cabaret Card, which was a serious set back for Holiday. This meant that she could not work anywhere that sold alcohol, and these were typically the places that payed the most money. This reduced her earnings significantly, and it was known she was not receiving official royalties. She was released early in 1948 for good behaviour, and on the suggestion of others, played at Carnegie Hall for a comeback show. It sold out in record time.

Holiday’s autobiography (Lady Sings the Blues) was published in 1956 and ghostwritten by William Dufty. He had written the book from a series of conversations with Billie plus his own research, as his wife was a close friend of Holiday's. The biography had been examined by John Szwed and generally assumed accurate. Richard Brody believed that Szwed identified two important relationships that were completely left out of the book. These were with Charles Laughton (during the 1930s) and with Tallulah Bankhead (during the late 1940s). Holiday has been rumored to have had multiple affairs with women. Another important relationship which had been noted missing was her affair with Orson Welles. The next year in 57’, Holiday married Louis McKay (known to be a Mafia enforcer). He was recognized as abusive towards her, and they were separated at the time of her death.

On the 31st May 1959, Holiday was in hospital receiving treatment for liver and heart disease. It has been identified that the Federal Bureau of Narcotics had been targeting Holiday since at least 1939. She was arrested for drug possession when her hospital room was raided, as she laid dying. She died on the 17th July by cirrhosis, when she was only 44 years old. Posthumously, Holiday was awarded four Grammys for Best Historical Album.

Billie will forever be someone I admire. She was a woman who overcame some of life's most traumatic experiences and continued working towards her dreams. Her story is difficult, and it makes it all that more important to listen to. What did you think of this post? Did you already know a lot about Billie Holiday? Let me know what you think down below! Would you like me to cover anymore jazz icons?

Thanks to Janine Robinson on Unsplash for the image!