Billie Holiday Essay

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The reason why I chose Billie Holiday is because when we were talking about her in class her music caught my attention. Billie’s life story was interesting. Her life story is different from other artist in my opinion. She suffered growing up in a family that did not have much money to spend. The first time I heard Billie sing was in class and I was shocked because she has a wonderful voice. I enjoyed listening to her music play. Her vocal cords are impressive. Another reason why I chose Billie was because she was not just a great singer, she was also able to change people’s life back then when they would listen to her music. Billie’s music reached out to a lot of people at bad times in society in the 40s, 50s and 60s. Billie was one of the …show more content…
She was the first jazz singer to leave her audience surprised. Billie changed the art of American pop vocals. “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday is my top favorite. The first time I heard that song I was in Jazz class and I remember paying close attention to the lyrics and how strong of a song it is. The song was first recorded by Billie in 1939 and it quickly became famous. It was a political protest song against the African Americans at the time. Also, it was a way to send out awareness and anger to the mass civil rights movement in the 50s and the 60s. “God Bless the Child” is my second favorite song by Billie Holiday. It is one of her top ten songs written. This song came out to be when her and her mother were having an argument over money leading Billie to write such a touching song. If it wasn’t for the incident that lead to this song, this song would have never excised. Her co worker Arthur Herzog Jr helped Billie sing “God Bless the Child”. This song was such a big hit that it received a Grammy in 1976. Billie’s instrumentation of ensembles was her voice. She always wanted for her voice to song like an instrument. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists. Billie was known for her amazing voice. There were other jazz singers with equal talent as Billie, but Billie was able to capture the attention of the
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