Billie Holiday

Elinore Harris was born on April 7, 1915 and is mostly know for being an American jazz singer and songwriter. She had a very hard life which leaded to a major drug addiction and prostitution. Eventually that imprisoned her for a short time. She began singing in the 1930′s and was admired for her deeply personal and intimate approach to singing. She was discovered at a club in 1933 by talent scout John Hammond.  Her vocal style was strong and brought about a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. Later on she adopted the stage name of Billie Holiday. She was one of the first black people to perform with an all white band. Still battling a drug addiction, she moved on heavier drugs such a heroin which she later ended up in jail for. She became very poor and ended up dieing of liver failure on July 17, 1959.

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