In Harlem, where her mother worked for a time as a prostitute, she began singing in nightclubs and was discovered at age 18 by producer John Hammond (who would later discover Bob Dylan). Like Frank Sinatra, whose centennial is also celebrated this year, Holiday is a cultural icon whose value is greater than the sum of her songs.īut how well do we really know Billie Holiday? She was born Eleanora Fagan in Philadelphia to a teenage mother and absent father, grew up in Baltimore and was sexually assaulted at the age of 9. Holiday's image - the African-American woman and drug addict who poured her suffering into music - endures.
Even contestants on "American Idol" have crooned her songs for the television masses. Jazz singers continue to record Billie Holiday tributes, including Cassandra Wilson, whose "Coming Forth by Day," is released April 7. Last year, Audra McDonald won a Tony Award for her portrayal of the jazz singer in "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill," a show that interspersed autobiographical monologues with songs. Viking, 230 pp., $28.95.īillie Holiday, born 100 years ago on April 7, is still very much with us. BILLIE HOLIDAY: The Musician and the Myth, by John Szwed.
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