Holiday’s Difficult Childhood
Eleanora Fagan, later known as Billie Holiday, was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Her mother, Sadie Fagan, and her father, Clarence Holiday, a musician with the Fletcher Henderson band, never married. Clarence left her mother before Holiday’s birth, and her mother raised her alone.Although Holiday’s father was not part of her life, she too was drawn to music. Before she had even reached her teen years, Holiday could often be found in nightclubs where she was among the participants of these nightly jam sessions. It was not just at nightclubs that Holiday immersed herself into music; among her favorite singers to listen to were Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong.
While Holiday enjoyed her early years, it was when she was ten years old that her life veered off course when she was raped. Her mother, who at the time had left Holiday with relatives while she was working in New York City, moved her from Baltimore to the city with her. This move, however, led the young eleven-year-old Holiday from a job as a maid to working as a prostitute. For three years she supported herself through prostitution, but it came to an end when she was arrested for solicitation at fourteen.
Holiday Gets Her Big Break
After four months in jail, Holiday was able to turn her life around when in 1930 she was hired to sing at Jerry Preston’s Log Cabin. She performed with pianist Bobby Henderson, and she soon gained a burgeoning reputation for her powerful and captivating singing style. Three years later her talent caught the attention of John Hammond, a record producer. Hammond was so impressed with Holiday that he quickly organized recording sessions. She made her first recordings with such musical greats as Benny Goodman, Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, and Teddy Wilson.Her jazz recordings gave her career a boost into stardom, and she became recognized as a prominent jazz singer. In 1937, she went on tour with Count Basie’s Orchestra and later with Artie Shaw’s Orchestra. After returning to New York City from tour, she performed regularly at the club Café Society.
Holiday continued to record and perform throughout the 1940s. Her recordings included such favorites as, “Strange Fruit,” “Fine and Mellow,” “God Bless the Child,” “Them There Eyes,” and “Lover Man.” It is “Strange Fruit,” though, that is one of her most memorable songs. The song, which was written by schoolteacher Abel Meeropol, was a compelling song about racism in the South. It was in this enduring piece that Holiday was able to capture the brutality of southern injustice toward blacks.
Holiday’s Life Spirals Out of Control
While Holiday’s career was taking off, her personal life was quite the opposite. Holiday began using drugs and was arrested for heroin possession in 1947. After spending a year in a rehabilitation center, she returned to New York City. Because of her arrest, she was unable obtain a cabaret license to work in the city. Instead, she performed in concerts and clubs outside of the city.While Holiday had achieved growing popularity throughout the 1940s, the 1950s were marred by her drug abuse. As a result, the quality of her voice deteriorated and affected her recordings. Not only was her voice affected, but her health was as well. In 1959, Holiday was hospitalized after she collapsed. She died of cirrhosis of the liver on July 17, 1959.
