Billie Holiday Exemplification Essay: Eleanora Fagan

Give light and people will find the way, Said Ella Baker. She was a woman, who even in the darkest hour, gave light to people everywhere. Being a Civil Rights activist in the 1930’s, she was one of the leading figures in the Civil Rights Movement. She dedicated her life to fighting for freedom and equality, and she deserves to be recognized worldwide.

Angelou was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. Angelou had a difficult childhood growing up. Her parents got a divorce when she was

It is uncommon for an American singer to decry Billie Holiday’s art of music considering that many cite the influence of her career not only on jazz but also on other American music. The distinctive phrasing,

When Holiday was in 5th grade she quit school and started working in a brothel to earn money. Soon after her and her mother moved to Harlem where she was finally arrested at age 12 for prostitution. Around the age 15, Eleanora Fagan renamed herself Billie after the famous film star Billie Dove, she was starting a new chapter in her book. She quickly took to singing in bars and clubs to earn money and at the age of 18 was discovered by John Hammond while performing in a Harlem jazz club. Hammond immediately took Billie under his wing and into the music industry.

Lena Horne was born on June 30, 1917 in Brooklyn, New York. Her parents were Teddy and Edna Scottron Horne. After her father left her at the age of two in order to pursue his gambling career; her mother leaving soon after that to pursue her acting career; she went to live with her grandparents. Through her grandparents influence she became involved with organizations like the NAACP, at an early age.

Billie’s Blues was recorded by American Jazz musician singer and songwriter Eleanora Fagan Gough professionally acknowledged as Billie Holiday in 1936 and released 1999. As a teen, Holiday started singing in clubs in Harlem. Holiday's creativeness of tunes to fit the desire was new. Somewhere in the middle of the twentieth century, Brazilian and Cuban musical influences could be heard in Jazz. It's what I think of as essential singing, something nature herself had brought together and made it well-organized to make the greatest human of cries. She had a worthy intellect of poetic content at her undeveloped age. Listening to her music Holiday had an inspiring impact on jazz music and modern singing when it comes to the Expression, Performing forces and Rhythm of her piece.

Dorothy Day was born on November 8, 1897 to her mother, Grace, and father, John, in Brooklyn, New York. Because her father was a sports journalist, the family often moved, which made it hard for Day to make and keep friendships in school. She often kept to herself as a child even though she had two brothers and a

Louis Armstrong was born on August 4th 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana. His grandmother had raised him mostly because his father abandoned the family soon after he was born, and his mother had turned to prostitution. Armstrong left school in the fifth grade and began working. The Karnofsky’s gave young Armstrong a job collecting junk and delivering coal. They encouraged him to sing and often times would invite him into their home for meals.

Billie Joe Armstrong was born on February 17, 1972 in Oakland, California. His parents are Andrew Armstrong and Ollie Jackson. Billie Joe’s father worked as a jazz musician and truck driver for safety Inc. Sadly though when Billie was around ten, his father died from esophageal cancer. His mother was a waitress at Rod's Hickory pit (restaurant in El Cerrito). Andrew and Ollie Armstrong had six children. Billie was the youngest of six children. Armstrong never went to college and dropped out of High School at Pinole Valley High School after attending John Swett High in Crockett. When Armstrong was five attending Hillcrest Elementary School, his teacher encouraged Armstrong to write and record a song which lead to the first band Armstrong

Aretha Franklin was the fourth of five children, and was born in Memphis, Tennessee on March 25, 1942. Her father, Clarence La Vaughn (C.L.), was a Baptist preacher and famous gospel singer known as “the man with the million dollar voice”. Her mother, Barbara Siggers, was also a gospel singer.

Louis Armstrong influenced Billie Holiday because when she was growing up the voices that she heard from the Blues and Jazz players and those voices influenced her way of singing. If you listen to her singing her vocals are so close to that of Armstrong’s, you can clearly hear the influence that he had on her style of singing. During her early of years Ella Fitzgerald listened to jazz recording by Louis Armstrong. In 1942 Ella left the Benny Goodman Orchestra and began her solo career, staying under the contract to the label Decca who she had worked with while still being a part of Goodman’s Orchestra. In the year 1945 her scat recording of “Flying Home” was named as “one of the most most influential vocal jazz records of the decade” by

Amelia Earhart was born July 24, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas to Edwin and Amy Otis Earhart and would later have a younger sister named Grace Earhart. While growing up Amelia and Grace would move around continuously from place to place with their mother because of their alcoholic father who was a struggling lawyer who couldn’t find a job. Amelia would later attended Columbia University but would drop out due to lack of funds. Soon later after World War I began, Amelia went to visit her sister in

He was born in Hoboken, New Jersey on December 12, 1915 the only child of Italian immigrants. His father was a firefighter, his mother was an amateur singer who often sang at social events. He lived in a manly Italian American working class neighborhood. His uncle gave him a ukulele and on hot summer nights he would go outside and sing while playing ukulele. Early in his years he knew he wanted to be a singer. His influences were Rudy Vallee and Bing Crosby. He dropped out of high school and began to sing at small clubs.He got

Loretta Lynn was born Loretta Webb on April 14, 1932, in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky. Lynn grew up in a small poor Appalachian coal-mining community and was the second of eight children. Loretta’s career began when she started singing in church as a child. When she was 16, she married Oliver Lynn. The couple soon moved to Custer, Washington. During their first four years in Washington Lynn has four children, Betty Sue, Jack Benny, Ernest Ray and Clara Marie. Lynn was still passionate about music and began to play at local venues. By 1960, she had released her first single, “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl.” She moved to Nashville, where she continued to perform and promote her music. Moving to Nashville was arguably one of Lynn’s best decisions. That is where she met one of her best friends and role models, Patsy Cline, as well as find fame and recognition there. During her career Lynn has garnered an impressive release of more than 160 songs, 60 albums, a total sale of 45 million records, ten Number 1 albums and sixteen Number 1 singles on the country charts, and was the first women to win the the CMA’s Entertainer of The Year.

Many artists use sobriquets instead of their given name for a stage name. For example, Dolly Parton is not her full birth name, but instead Dolly Rebecca Parton. Dolly was born in Locust Ridge, Tennessee in 1946 of January 19th. Parton is not an only child, but happens to be one of twelve children born. Dolly Parton did not waste anytime to launch her career; in fact she started fresh out from high school. As she graduated from high school, she instantly moved to Nashville, where she paired forces with another country singer, Porter Wagoner and in brief time became a success. Shortly after time with Wagoner, she decided to establish her career as a solo artist besides the odds. She was able to produce multiple hit songs, some of the biggest