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Gomez 1
The Life of Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an African American jazz vocalist born as Eleanora Fagan on April
17, 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She changed her name to “Billie Holiday” because of
her admiration of film star Billie Dove and her father’s surname. She got her nickname "Lady
Day" from her music partner Lester Young. She had a warm, feathery voice, and she used it as
an accomplished jazz instrumentalist. Her career lasted around three decades, influencing jazz
music and pop singing. She did not have much of a formal musical knowledge and she had a
limited range, but she made up for it with how she delivered her voice. Her career in jazz music
thrived for a long time, until she struggled with an addiction to drugs. She was one of the
highest-paid performers of her time, and most of her money went to paying for her addiction.
Despite all of her troubles, Holiday's performance remains unrivaled.
