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Dubbed "The First Lady of Song,"
Ella Fitzgerald was the most popular female jazz singer
in the United States for more than half a century. In
her lifetime, she won 13 Grammy awards and sold over 40
million albums.
Her voice was flexible, wide-ranging, accurate and ageless.
She could sing sultry ballads, sweet jazz and imitate
every instrument in an orchestra. She worked with all
the jazz greats, from Duke Ellington, Count Basie and
Nat King Cole, to Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny
Goodman. (Or rather, some might say all the jazz greats
had the pleasure of working with Ella.)
She performed at top venues all over the world, and packed
them to the hilt. Her audiences were as diverse as her
vocal range. They were rich and poor, made up of all races,
all religions and all nationalities. In fact, many of
them had just one binding factor in common - they all
loved her.
Humble but happy beginnings
Ella Jane Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Virginia
on April 25, 1917. Her father, William, and mother,
Temperance
(Tempie), parted ways shortly afterward.
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A rough patch
In 1932, Tempie died from serious injuries she received
in a car accident. Ella took the loss very hard.
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"What's she going
to do?"
In 1934, Ella's name was pulled in a weekly drawing at
the Apollo and she won the opportunity to compete in Amateur
Night.
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Jazzing things up
In mid 1936, Ella made her first recording. Love
and Kisses was released under
the Decca label, with moderate success.
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Coming into her own
On June 16, 1939, Ella mourned the loss of her mentor
Chick Webb.
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Overcoming discrimination
On the touring circuit it was well-known that Ella's manager
felt very strongly about civil rights and required equal
treatment for his musicians, regardless of their color.
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Worldwide recognition
Ella continued to work as hard as she had early on in
her career, despite the ill effects on her health.
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End of an era
In September of 1986, Ella underwent quintuple coronary
bypass surgery.
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