Holiday Billie, born Eleonora Fagan or Gough McKay, known as Lady Day, *7 April 1915 Baltimore (Maryland), †17 July 1959 New York, African-American jazz and blues singer and composer. She learned music at home from her father, a banjo player and guitarist in jazz orchestras (including F. Henderson’s). In 1930, she began performing in jazz clubs in Harlem (New York). After being noticed by J. Hammond, she recorded Your Mother’s Son-in-Law with Benny Goodman’s band in 1933. Following occasional performances in Canada and at the Apollo club in New York, she began recording regularly with orchestras, most often with the studio bands of Teddy Wilson, who became her artistic advisor. In 1936, she performed with Jimmy Lunceford’s band, in 1937–38 with Count Basie’s orchestra, and in 1938 with Artie Shaw’s band. Between 1935 and 1939, Billie Holiday made her most successful recordings with Wilson and L. Young. In the early 1940s, she performed in clubs with various orchestras, most often under the direction of her husband, Joe Guy. From 1942 to 1944, she recorded with Paul Whiteman’s orchestra, and from 1944 to 1958 with various ensembles. Beginning in 1946, Holiday performed recitals, including appearances in New York, where in 1948 she appeared at Carnegie Hall in the widely publicised revue Holiday on Broadway. Health problems and drug abuse increasingly hampered her career; nevertheless, in the 1950s she undertook several tours, performing in major cities across the United States and Europe (notably in France and the United Kingdom in 1954 and 1958). However, her popularity with audiences was no longer accompanied by artistic success. Holiday gave her final performance on 25 May, 1959, at the Phoenix Theatre in New York. She died as a result of drug abuse.
Holiday recorded over 350 albums, including around 70 with Wilson and Young between 1935 and 1939, such as Born to Love, What a Little Moonlight Can Do, Don’t Explain, Easy Living, God Bless the Child, Lover Man, Mean to Me, Fine and Mellow, Strange Fruit. These are regarded as her best. J. E. Berendt emphasised the influence of saxophone playing, particularly the tenor saxophone of cool jazz, on Billie Holiday’s vocal style, noting how the timbre of her voice often imitated the instrument’s sound. Considered a blues singer, Holiday rarely performed authentic blues; instead, she frequently turned to ballads, standard songs, and jazz themes, infusing them with the sound, character, and style of the blues through her interpretation. Often compared to the Empress of the Blues, Bessie Smith, Holiday sang with a soft, delicate voice, yet with extraordinary, unique expression. She built on the experiences of E. Waters, I. Anderson, and M. Bailey, and became a model for many singers. Among her successors, notable figures include Ch. Connor, D. Ross, A. Franklin, and R. Flack.
Notable recordings by Holiday (other than those mentioned): All or Nothing at All, I’ll Be Seeing You, It’s the Same Old Story, Jealousy Blues, I Cried for You, Don’t Worry ’Bout Me, Willow Weep for Me, Loveless Love, Sugar Chile, Yesterdays, All of Me, As Time Goes By, Now Baby or Never, Easy to Remember, Why I Was Born, Love for Sale, Laughing at Life, I’ll Never Be the Same, My Man, A Fine Romance, These Foolish Things, Trav’lin’ All Alone, The Man I Love, I Cover the Waterfront. However, between 1935 and 1941, her greatest popularity was associated with: What a Little Moonlight Can Do, Twenty-Four Hours a Day, If You Were Mine, No Regrets, The Way You Look Tonight, Who Loves You?, I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Pennies from Heaven, I’ve Got You Love to Keep Me Warm, This Year’s Kisses, (This Is) My Last Affair, The Mood That I’m In, Carelessly, Mean to Me, A Sailboat in the Moonlight, Getting Some Fun Out of Life, I’m Gonna Lock My Heart and God Bless the Child (Holiday’s own composition). In 1978, a commemorative LP of Billie Holiday was released in Poland (Muza), featuring recordings from 1956–1958.
Holiday also appeared in the films: The Emperor Jones (1933), Symphony in Black (1935), Reveille with Beverly (1943), New Orleans (1946), The Sound of Jazz (1957). Her life and career were the subject of the biographical film Lady Sings the Blues (1972, directed by Sidney J. Furie, starring D. Ross) and the documentary Billie Holiday. The Long Night of Lady Day (1984, directed by John Jeremy). Holiday’s recordings have been used many times in films by the most famous directors, from J. Losey to J. Nichols.
Literature: B. Holiday and W.F. Dufty Lady Sings the Blues, New York 1956 (contains a discography); J. Chilton Billie’s Blues. A Survey of Billie Holiday’s Career 1933–1959, New York 1975; J. Millar Born to Sing. A Discography of Billie Holiday, Copenhagen 1979; B. James Billie Holiday, New York 1984; J. White Billie Holiday, «Jazz Lifes Times», New York 1985.
