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Ella Fitzgerald biography

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Quick Facts

  • PLACE OF DEATH: Beverly Hills, California
  • Nickname: First Lady of Song
more about Ella

Best Known For

Ella Fitzgerald, known as the "First Lady of Song," was one of the most notable singers of the 20th century, and a significant artist in the emergence of jazz.

Synopsis

After a troubled childhood, Ella Fitzgerald turned to singing and debuted at the Apollo Theater in 1934. Discovered in an amateur contest, she became the top female jazz singer for over 50 years. Her multi-volume "songbooks" on Verve are among the treasures of American song. Her voice quality, with lucid intonation and a broad range, won her 13 Grammy awards and sold over 40 million albums.

Contents

Quotes

The only thing better than singing is more singing.
– Ella Fitzgerald

I stole everything I ever heard, but mostly I stole from the horns.
– Ella Fitzgerald

I sing like I feel.
– Ella Fitzgerald

The only thing better than singing is more singing.
– Ella Fitzgerald

What everyone wants more than anything else is to be loved and to know you love me for my singing is too much for me.
– Ella Fitzgerald

Profile

Singer. Born Ella Jane Fitzgerald on April 25, 1917 in Newport News, Virginia. After a troubled childhood, including the death of her mother in 1932, Fitzgerald turned to singing and debuted at the Apollo Theater in 1934 at age 17. She was discovered in an amateur contest in Harlem and joined Chick Webb's band and recorded several hits, notably "A-tisket A-tasket" (1938).

After Webb died in 1939, his band was renamed Ella Fitzgerald and her Famous Orchestra. Two years later, she began her solo career and by the mid-1950s, she had become the first African-American to perform at the Mocambo. Her lucid intonation and broad range made her a top jazz singer. Her series of recordings for Verve (1955-9) in multi-volume "songbooks" are among the treasures of American popular song. Fitzgerald is known as "The First Lady of Song," and was the most popular American female jazz singer for over fifty years. In her lifetime, she won 13 Grammy awards and sold over 40 million albums.

With the exception of Jazz at Santa Monica Civic '72, her latter recordings marked a decline in her voice due to complications from diabetes. The disease left her blind, and she had both legs amputated in 1994. She made her last recording in 1989 and her last public performance in 1991 at New York's Carnegie Hall. Ella Fitzgerald died on June 15, 1996 in her Beverly Hills home.

Fitzgerald was briefly married to Benny Kornegay, a convicted drug dealer and hustler, in 1941. She was married to bass player Ray Brown from 1947 to 1952; they adopted a child born to Fitzgerald's half-sister whom they christened Ray Brown, Jr. Fitzgerald.

© 2012 A&E Television Networks. All rights reserved.

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