10 Unique And Fascinating Facts About Billie Holiday

1. First Black Woman performing alongside a White Orchestra— Joining Artie Shaw’s orchestra in 1938, Billie Holiday broke racial boundaries in the music business by becoming the first Black woman to tour with a white band.


2. Strange Fruit” Almost Wasn’t Recorded—Originally turned down by her label, Columbia Records, her melancholy song Strange Fruit, a potent statement against lynching, was contentious. She had to log it under Commodore Records, a small indie label.

3. Arrested on Her Deathbed—for narcotics. She was jailed for drug possession in 1959 while hospitalized dying of cirrhosis. She was refused access to medical treatment in her last days; the cops bound her to her hospital bed.

4. She Started Her Career as a Street Singer—Billie Holiday sang popular songs of the time while performing on Baltimore’s streets with a companion, earning pennies before she was discovered.

**Named Herself Following an Actress—Her true name was Eleanora Fagan, but she adopted the moniker Billie from her favorite actress, Billie Dove, and Holiday from her likely father, jazz guitarist Clarence Holiday.

**A Dog Was One of Her Closest Friends— Traveling with her everywhere and even lodging with her in hotel rooms when segregation rules kept her from staying in white-owned businesses, Billie had a devoted boxer dog named Mister.

7. She sung with a unique style—often singing slightly behind the rhythm, she used her voice like an instrument and produced a distinctive, jazz-infused phrasing that transformed vocal music.

8. She inspired herself by Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong—growing up listening to these two jazz masters, Billie Holiday’s singing technique was much inspired.

Her career suffered greatly when she was forbidden from playing in New York nightclubs for several years due to drug convictions, so denying a cabaret license.

Though Billie Holiday struggled throughout her lifetime, she was subsequently honored with four posthumous Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987.

Her life was rich in both amazing talent and tragic hardships, which makes her among the most intriguing personalities in jazz history.