Billie Holiday

1915 – 1959 · died at about 44^[1][2]

Music

Fun Facts About Billie Holiday

• Billie Holiday took her stage name from actress Billie Dove, whom she admired, and from her father, Clarence Halliday.^[1]
• Holiday's most popular record, "God Bless the Child," grew out of a fight with her mother, who refused to give her money; Holiday shouted the title line and stormed out.^[1]
• At her sold-out 1948 Carnegie Hall comeback, Holiday pinned gardenias to her head without noticing a hatpin in them; she bled and passed out after the third curtain call.^[1]
• When Columbia found "Strange Fruit" too sensitive, Holiday recorded it for Commodore Records instead, and she said that version became her biggest-selling record.^[1]
• Frank Sinatra called Holiday "the greatest single musical influence on me."^[1][3][4]
• In a 1938 battle of the bands at the Savoy Ballroom, Metronome magazine declared Ella Fitzgerald's side the winner, while DownBeat picked Holiday's.^[1][5][6]
• Billie Holiday was alive at the same time as Woodrow Wilson — their lives overlapped for 9 years (1915–1924).^[1][2][7][8]
• Billie Holiday shares a birthday with Francis Ford Coppola: both were born on April 7.^{[1][2][9][10]}

Billie Holiday was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly influenced by jazz instrumentalists, inspired a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. Holiday was known for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills.^[1]

Contemporaries

Winston Churchill

44 yr overlap

Carl Jung

44 yr overlap

Pablo Picasso

44 yr overlap

Igor Stravinsky

44 yr overlap

Coco Chanel

44 yr overlap

Niels Bohr

44 yr overlap

Erwin Schrödinger

44 yr overlap

Georgia O'Keeffe

44 yr overlap

Charlie Chaplin

44 yr overlap

Ho Chi Minh

44 yr overlap

Agatha Christie

44 yr overlap

Dwight D. Eisenhower

44 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Billie Holiday

When was Billie Holiday born?

Billie Holiday was born on April 7, 1915, and died on July 17, 1959.

How old was Billie Holiday at death?

Billie Holiday was born on April 7, 1915, and died on July 17, 1959, at age 44.

What was Billie Holiday known for?

Billie Holiday was known for: Strange Fruit, jazz vocal legend. Billie Holiday was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly influenced by jazz instrumentalists, inspired a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. Holiday was known for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills.

Who was alive at the same time as Billie Holiday?

Billie Holiday's closest contemporary was Winston Churchill. Their lives overlapped for 44 years.