Bessie Smith - Mini Biography - Bessie Smith Videos

Your Connections

Hi,

settings

See More Bio Connections

Your Friends' Connections

Profile Connections

Show More Connections

Included In These Groups

- In this group:
- Michael Jackson
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Jimi Hendrix
22 others
Apollo Legends

Many African-Americans made their name performing at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, including Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown and Jimi Hendrix. The roster of talented artists who made their careers after a successful amateur night at the Apollo grew so large, that the venue earned a reputation as the place to jump-start the career of an ambitious hopeful. Other performers, like Aretha Franklin and Michael Jackson, came to the theater after experiencing big professional success, adding further credibility to the historic New York concert hall. Explore the biographies of some of the more notable African-Americans who stepped out onto the Apollo stage, making entertainment history.

View group
Apollo Legends 25 people in this group
- In this group:
- Billie Holiday
- Bessie Smith
- Mahalia Jackson
7 others
Foremothers of Rock

In the 1920s, women like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith were the first—and for a while, the only—artists to record the blues. American women of this era made great strides toward gaining equality and basic human rights for themselves and others in society, including attaining the right to vote and working toward social justice. The 20th century was a wide-open opportunity for women to embrace the modern world, outside of the traditional bounds of the home.

View group
Foremothers of Rock 10 people in this group
- In this group:
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Duke Ellington
- Ray Charles
26 others
Famous Jazz Musicians

With its roots in the blues, jazz has been referred to as America's classical music, yet has also become a major global phenomenon, branching off into a variety of forms. Earlier pioneers like Scott Joplin and Jelly Roll Morton paved the way for the swinging big-band sounds of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. In contrast, contemporaries Dizzie Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk developed bebop, with its speedy, dissonant harmonies and improvisations. And Miles Davis heralded the birth of cool jazz, modal jazz and fusion at different points in his career. Famous jazz instrumentalists have tended to be male, yet women have been at the forefront of the genre when it comes to vocalization, from the brassy blues of Bessie Smith to the haunting eclecticism of Nina Simone.

View group
Famous Jazz Musicians 29 people in this group