This April 7th marks what would’ve been the 105th birthday of Billie Holiday, whose husky, melancholy voice reflected the tragedy of her own life. Born of indigent teenagers, schooled in a Baltimore brothel, she stubbornly nursed her resentment, pouring it out in songs that reached their height of popularity in the early ’40s—"Billies Blues", "Gloomy Sunday", above all, "Strange Fruit", a poem by Abel Meeropol and a musical lament against lynching. It imagined black bodies hanging from trees as a dark fruit native to South America. Here was a black woman, before a mixed audience, grieving for the racist murders in the United States.
The tale of Holiday has been told on-screen on several occasions such as 'Lady Sings The Blues' in 1973. Last year, a documentary titled 'Billie' that featured never-before-heard interviews, music, and archived footages, explored her life through the eyes of journalist Linda Lipnak Kuehl.
She described her approach to performing, “I don't think I ever sing the same way twice. The blues is sort of a mixed-up thing. You just have to feel it. Anything I do sing is part of my life.” Remembering the blues singer, who had gone on to become one of the most poignant performers in music history, on this special day.
Pictures via Joe Lauro, Jerry Dantzic, Getty Images
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