Example Essays Home

FAQ

Acceptable Use Policy

Tech Support

LOG IN!

Click HERE for Instant Access

This is a free preview of the paper.

Join Now
Log In

Billie Holliday

Billie Holliday was born in Baltimore in 1915. Her father left the home before she was born. When she was ten years old she was raped and sent to a foster home where she lived for three years. At the age of 13 she moved back home and started working at a brothel. It was while working at the brothel she first heard recordings of Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong. These were to be her biggest influences. It was right around this time she began singing at after hour’s clubs. One night she auditioned as a dancer. While she couldn’t dance, the club owner asked her what else she could do instead. She told him that she also sang a little. She performed a couple of songs and was hired on the spot. In 1933 she was discovered by John Hammond, who introduced her to Benny Goodman and recorded their collaborations. In these songs, the instrumental work was the main focus of the music, which was typical of th

Ella Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Virginia in 1917. Both her parents died by the time she was 15. Ella was forced to live at the New York State Training School for girls, where she was abused by the caretakers. Striving to become a dancer, Ella took the stage of the Harlem Apollo Theatre in 1934. However, she was too nervous to perform her dance routine so she began singing instead. She sang two songs and took home first prize in the competition. Ella was soon discovered by Chick Webb. Webb took the young girl under his wing and personally coached her. This was the most “formal” training she ever received. Ella Fitzgerald’s musical career spans six decades and includes thousands of recordings. She was married twice and divorced twice. She battled diabetes for most of her life and toward the end it caught up with her. The disease affected her vision, her weight, and her health. She c