Today is Billie Holiday's Birthday
Her legendary voice still haunts listeners. Billie Holiday will always be the standard. Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young , Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. Critic John Bush wrote that Holiday "changed the art of American pop vocals forever." She co-wrote only a few songs, but several of them have become jazz standards , notably " God Bless the Child ", " Don't Explain ", " Fine and Mellow ", and " Lady Sings the Blues ". She also became famous for singing " Easy Living ", " Good Morning Heartache ", and " Strange Fruit ", a protest song which became one of her standards and was made famous with h...