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• Billie Holiday is one of the most famous jazz singers in history, having sung and recorded a number of hits before her death from drug related causes in 1959.

  After a difficult childhood, Holiday began singing for tips in Harlem in the 1930s. In 1933 and again in 1935, she recorded with Benny Goodman, which launched her career as a major vocalist. Over the course of her career, she would record with Count Basie, Artie Shaw, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and her longtime collaborator saxophonist Lester Young.

  Among her most famous recordings are the songs "Strange Fruit," based on a Abel Meeropol poem about lynching, and "Lover Man," her first recording for Decca.

  Holiday also co-wrote the jazz standards "God Bless the Child," "Don't Explain" and "Lady Sings the Blues."

  Her personal life was plagued with difficulties. She began using hard drugs in the 1940s and never stopped. Her health rapidly detriorated through the 50s, and in 1959, she died from cirrhosis of the liver with only seventy cents in the bank.

• Fast Facts

  1. Born: April 7, 1915
  2. Died: July 17, 1959
  3. Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland
  4. Labels: Columbia Records, Decca Records, Verve Records, Commodore Records
  5. Nickname: "Lady Day"

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Cole Porter | Louis Armstrong | Charlie Parker | Ella Fitzgerald | Benny Goodman | Lizz Wright | Norah Jones | Lena Horne

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