Friday, March 9, 2012

THE LAST DAYS OF BILLIE HOLIDAY

When jazz singer Billie Holiday was first starting out in the 1930s, her phrasing and voice were audio gold. She did not have the great singing voice, but on those jazz 78s of the 1930s, Holiday could express a mood in a few short minutes. Holiday had a very sad life. She was born in 1915, not knowing who her father was and living a childhood where her mother reportedly was a prostitute. By the age of fourteen, Billie herself was a prostitute, and as early as 1930 she and her mom were arrested in a raid.

The 1930s saw Billie at the height of her career. She worked with some greats of jazz like Count Basie, Artie Shaw, and Teddy Wilson. She not only broke color barriers but transended them. Unfortunately, her success was not enough to conquer her past demons. By the 1950s, Holiday's drug abuse, drinking, and relationships with abusive men caused her health to deteriorate. She appeared on the ABC reality series The Comeback Story to discuss attempts to overcome her misfortunes. Her later recordings showed the effects of declining health on her voice, as it grew coarse and no longer projected its former vibrancy.

On March 28, 1957, Holiday married Louis McKay, a Mafia enforcer, who like most of the men in her life was abusive, but he did try to get her off drugs. They were separated at the time of her death, but McKay had plans to start a chain of Billie Holiday vocal studios, à la Arthur Murray dance schools.



Holiday's late recordings on Verve constitute about a third of her commercial recorded legacy and are as popular as her earlier work for the Columbia, Commodore and Decca labels. In later years, her voice became more fragile, but it never lost the edge that had always made it so distinctive.

In early 1959 she found out that she had cirrhosis of the liver. The doctor told her to stop drinking, which she did for a short time, but soon returned to heavy drinking. By May she had lost twenty pounds. Friends Leonard Feather, Joe Glaser, and Allan Morrison tried to get her to check into to a hospital, but she put them off.

On May 31, 1959, Holiday was taken to Metropolitan Hospital in New York suffering from liver and heart disease. She was arrested for drug possession as she lay dying, and her hospital room was raided by authorities. Police officers were stationed at the door to her room. Holiday remained under police guard at the hospital until she died from pulmonary edema and heart failure caused by cirrhosis of the liver on July 17, 1959. In the final years of her life, she had been progressively swindled out of her earnings, and she died with $0.70 in the bank and $750 (a tabloid fee) on her person. Her funeral mass was held at Church of St. Paul the Apostle in New York City.


Gilbert Millstein of The New York Times, who had been the narrator at Billie Holiday's 1956 Carnegie Hall concerts and had partly written the sleeve notes for the album The Essential Billie Holiday described her death in these same 1961-dated sleeve notes:

"Billie Holiday died in the Metropolitan Hospital, New York, on Friday, July 17, 1959, in the bed in which she had been arrested for illegal possession of narcotics a little more than a month before, as she lay mortally ill; in the room from which a police guard had been removed – by court order – only a few hours before her death, which, like her life, was disorderly and pitiful. She had been strikingly beautiful, but she was wasted physically to a small, grotesque caricature of herself. The worms of every kind of excess – drugs were only one – had eaten her ... The likelihood exists that among the last thoughts of this cynical, sentimental, profane, generous and greatly talented woman of 44 was the belief that she was to be arraigned the following morning. She would have been, eventually, although possibly not that quickly. In any case, she removed herself finally from the jurisdiction of any court here below"...

103 comments:

  1. Wow! I had never known about Billie Holiday's life! This was a great post and so heartbreaking too. I can't imagine laying there dying as police are raiding your room...seems a little disrespectful to me I guess.
    Thank you so much for joining in the blogathon!

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    1. My mom had just started her nursing career in Metropolitan Hospital back in 1959. Billie Holiday was one of her first patients. I remember her telling me about her arrest and doing drugs in her hospital room. At that time, I had never heard of Billie. I was only 16. I know my mom was heartbroken about the tragedy of her life. Since then, I became a huge fan. That's my small link to that great woman. I love her music, her voice and her tender expression.

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    2. That's awesome really. I would give anything to hear the late greats of her time!

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    5. Hi Whitney!. You can look for some of Billie Holiday's music on "You Tube". There you can listen to some of her original songs such as "Strange Fruit". They may sound a little muffled,but you can be sure the songs are her originals!.

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    6. To hear her in true live form the band swinging her fi gers snapping the strongest g smell of igars and cigerrets it's dark and smells of perfume cologne booze scuffed shoes laughter and black men in suits girl!Fine with processed hair feather boas slinky straps red lipstick

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    7. To hear her in true live form the band swinging her fi gers snapping the strongest g smell of igars and cigerrets it's dark and smells of perfume cologne booze scuffed shoes laughter and black men in suits girl!Fine with processed hair feather boas slinky straps red lipstick

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    8. This is a great post. My son is a drummer in the current play "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill" which begins playing in Louisville, Ky at the Actors Theater in January. I've long been a fan of hers and it was really a full circle moment to have my son be honored and accepted to play her music. May her soul forever rest in peace.

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    9. Just take a moment to listen to her version of Autumn in New York. At this point her voice was practically shot from all the abuse but her delivery of this song is absolutely breathtaking. It is so very haunting, but strikingly beautiful at the same time. You can practically hear the demons in her fragile, tattered voice. It is a masterpiece because it is real emotion and real pain forever captured on tape.

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    10. That day and time I could only imagine what happen very disturbing as well. After watching the movie Lady Sings the Blues, I was compelled to research her life.

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    11. I was fortunate enough to have seen her last performance at Carnegie Hall. So much talent, and a life filled with misery and hardship.

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    12. She was a force. Another powerful,tortured icon ground down by day to day prejudices, moral judgement and the realities of herlife.

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    13. Having been in the music scene for a time, and actually having met Sinatra once, I have often heard the story that while she was trying to kick her habits, Sinatra thought it was a good idea to bring Billie heroin while she was in the hospital. Friends like this nobody
      needs....

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  2. I knew her life was bad, but I didn't know it was that bad! My mother loves her and the first thing she does in the car is start her CD up! Billie made lots of people smile...it's too bad she couldn't herself. Lovely post!

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  3. Have you see the film, Lady Sings the Blues (1972). The biographical film about jazz singer Billie Holiday, loosely based on her life? Diana Ross plays Holiday. It is an awesome film..

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    1. Very loosely based on Billie's life is correct, had they put the real truth of Lady Day's life, the film would probably had never gotten produced. I love the "Lady In Satin" album, such a waste of a great woman with an awesome talent to interpret the tunes she sang...Jazz at it's best

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    2. I cannot believe that the movie LADY SINGS THE BLUES is a LIE! Louis Mckay was an abuser & in the mafia!Her MOM was a prostitute not a maid! EW! All these yrs. I believed the movies version of events! VERY HEART BROKEN!��

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    3. I agree with u lisa nuttin about da movie is true everything was definitely a lie

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    4. I read about her when I was just a teen in the 70's in a book my dad (an avid jazz enthusiast) gave me. She intrigued me then as she does now. Watching "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill" on HBO.

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    5. Although the circumstances of her life were sad,Billie did'nt live a sad life! She had a ball living it up,despite some unfortunate experiences. The movie had NOTHING on her real life,it was ALL made up,Louis was'nt some shinin g prince,he was a pimp,all that romantic shtick was BS

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    6. No, it is a horrible filmed that continue to spread mis-information about a woman who was entrapped and made an example of by the authorities--Harry Anslinger.

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    7. Not only was he a pimp, he was a low level hit man for the Mafia. He threatened to kill Billie if she divorce him. He wanted her royalties from her book and recordings, and he got them, after she was murdered in her hospital ward. He did not even pay for her funeral and left her in an unmarked grave in St Raymond's Cemetery pauper section, a year after she died; while he racked in millions of dollars from her music and book royalties. Mckay collaborated with Harry Anslinger and the FBI to destroyed one of the greatest Jazz singers of the 20th Century. For example, Mckay would beat her with steel knuckles in her stomach and that is why she would have to have her ribs tied and sit on a stool to perform. Louis McKay, contributed to her destruction by his frequent beatings of her to support him, and then painted her as a derange, degenerate woman, he tried to save from her sex and drug addictions. McKay collaborated with the FBI and Harry Anslinger, the Head of Drug Enforcement, at the time. This is on public record, along with his boasting about beating his prostitute if she did not bring him money. Berry Gordy produced the film to launch and cement Diana Ross career. And, it did.

      Louis McKay's family has inherited Billie's fortune and like Louis, refused to allow her remains to be re-buried with the other Jazz Greats in Woodlawn Cemetery. McKay used her mother as an excuse to keep her in St. Raymonds Cemetery.

      The truth about Billie Holiday and Louis Mckay's true role in her life will some day be exposed. What the government did to her merits an apology and Billie Holiday should be given the Congressional Medal of Freedom for her her contribution to Civil Rights and the Arts.

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    8. You need to learn the true story of her life and then decide, if you would still make this comment.

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    9. I'm watching Lady Sings the Blues with Diana Ross. I love her voice. She was a great jazz singer. Life was wasted because of drugs and alochol.

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    10. I watched Lady Sings the Blues with Diana Ross, Louis McKay in the film proved to be a good man to her and that he loved her, why? I'd like to know more about his behavior with Billie Holiday, The drug is a hell.

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    11. There is still a lot of love and memories out there for Bellie Holiday. How can a man beat a woman who was already down and trying to kill herself slowly? If it's true that he did then what a monster. Of course he wanted her off drugs, he wanted her singing until she could sing no more. I am sure he got his Karma well deserved. She punished herself with these no good crumb snatchers. Men who were Sadist, the bastards enjoy beating women I wonder how her life would have turned out if she hadn't been introduced to the devil (Heroin). The self hate that she had was an acumilation of all that was done to her as a child and as an adult. She was loved by an audience that would not allow her to eat and drink in the same night club where she sang. Her people genuinely loved her and still do, I know I do. What a sad life, what did she do to deserve a life like that? All she wanted was a man to love her really love her unconditionally. Wow, the life she would have had if she had found that man. Life is so unfair sometimes. I just got home from my cousin, Yeli, memorial, Only 62, a young 62. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died within three months after diagnosis. Just like that. Death is so unfail, it plays dirty

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  4. What a voice this woman had. So much talent wasted on drug dependency and overall personal weakness.

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    1. Personal weakness...the woman survived the depths of hell during her short time on this earth. Who are you to judge her as weak? Perhaps had you had her life the same might have happened to you.

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    2. Thank you for putting this unfortunate comment in its place. Addiction is a disease, not a "personal weakness", and attitudes like that are what discourage people from getting help. We all need to do our part to combat such ignorance. RIP Billie Holliday...

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    3. Amen. July 26th,2015

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    4. She didn't ask for the life she was born into. To her the drug use wasn't her being weak, iybwas an escape from the life she had. She was born a broken soul

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    5. Whitney, I agree...what a tragic, sad welcome into her life. How hard it must have been to get out of that cycle only to find yourself in another cycle. Great talent...so sad.

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    6. I hope "personal weakness" was just poor choice and little thought on your behalf, most people would not have been able to endure her life. The things she went through as a child straight into adulthood would have destroyed many strong women and most strong men.

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  5. I knew about the drugs and the hospital raid, but the poor woman was also a teenage prostitute? It's a miracle that she managed to record as much as she did. I wonder if she ever had the will to live, given how tough her upbringing was.

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  6. Lobosco,
    I'm glad you chose to pay tribute to Billie Holiday! She certainly had a voice like no other. I could listen to her and Dinah Washington all day.

    You've written a great tribute. I enjoyed reading information I didn't know about Billie! It's sad really that her troubled life and death often overshadow her amazing talent. A voice like an angel and a death undeserving of anyone.

    Page

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  7. I am really a big fan. I will read anything about lady day. Wish I could have met the
    Lady!

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  8. I did not know Lady Billie's life was so tragic. My heart pains and tears swell in my eyes and down my cheeks. I get angry when people refer to her illinesses as weaknesses. She was born in a physical and emotional war. You can hear her spirit and soul in her singing. I believe she continued to look for ways to deal with all of her pains. I never knew she went through all of that. It is horrible the way she was mistreated by people and organizations. She was a beautiful talented lady. God Bless her spirit.
    Brenda McDougal

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  9. Than you for the tribute to Lady Billy. She was a beautifully talented lady. My heart pains and tears roll down my cheeks. It is so horrible the way people and organizations treated her. I get angry when people refer to her pain and illnesses as weaknesses. This beautiful lady was born in a physical, emotional, and financial war with so little resources available to her. You can feel her spirit and soul when you listen to her music. I see her continually trying to deal with all the pain she was in.

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  10. No one knew her pain but GOD ! Sometimes music is not enough,especially when it stops playing !!!!!!

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  11. I played the role of Joe Glaser (Billies manager) in a play called Shades of Blue: The Decline and Fall of Lady Day written by Steven Carl McCasland! We just closed with our last performance 2 days ago. It was a raw look at this super talented individual. It dealt with her last years all the way until the day of her death. She was handcuffed to her bed when she died at Metropolitan Hospital. This play had no music and it was factual! It was a great piece of work by all the actors involved and great writing. Look for it in the future! A must see. All performances were sold out and it's a great way to understand her life. To hide her pain (she was raped at the age of 13 the same time her mother left her) very sad life!

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    1. She was NEVER handcuffed to her bed,a policewoman sat outside her door until Flo (Kennedy) had her removed. Joe Glaser actually snitched on her and had her arrested in an effort to get her away from Joe Guy and the drugs,but in reality he almost ruined her professionally.Her circumstances,though unfortunate,did not make her life a sad one,truth be told she had a ball,even up to her death when the nurse caught her sniffing coke and called the police!!

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    2. Y u do hard? she did the best she could with what she had.

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  12. Audra Mc Donald did her justice

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    1. I concur, Audra McDonald is a must see show. She was Ms Day from the moment she walked on to the stage...until she exit...Ms Ross gave an okay performance but Ms McDonald gives a super performance, she paid honor to Ms Day.

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    2. I have always been a fan of The Lady.The strength of her sole always came through her music.I just watched the Audra McDonald performance and am amazed with the resemblance. Simply stunning. The Lady would be proud.

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  13. I FIRST SAW THE MOVIE LADY SINGS BLUES WHEN I WAS 15YEARS OLD,I AM 46 NOW AND I HAVE CRIED FOR BILLIE
    EVERY SINCE

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    1. The movie was almost all fairy tale(except the part that she sang in clubs) everything else in that movie was made up...believe me!

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  14. A tragic loss to a beautiful human being.Billie's voice was unmatched

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  15. Lady Day was a beautiful. misunderstood person..Diana Ross portrayed her well in the movie and I just loved handsome and sexy Billy Dee as Louis McCay

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    1. Billy Dee William was very charming, great actor

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  16. Billie Holiday was beautifully talented and lived a tragic life filed with heartache. Drugs seemed to be an escape from life, painful memories and that heartache. What's awesome is that she created and left a beautiful legacy in the midst of all the heartache and tragedy...and for that I say thank you Ms. Holiday, for sharing your gift and your life.

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  17. "Lady Sings The Blues" is a lovely movie BUT you might want to do your do diligence when it comes to the REAL life and music of Billie Holiday and not just re-write what others have written ! Further more BILLIE HOLIDAY'S sound from the BEGINNING till the END as well as her FIRST record to her LAST defined JAZZ. She and Louis Armstrong's horn HELP to formulate America's Greatest art form!

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    1. Thank you! The film was well made and entertaining, but it was in no way true to Billie Holliday's life. Her actual life was substantially more harrowing and devastating, in amazing ways that were too much for Hollywood to handle at the time (perhaps ever). The truth of her life substantiates her artistry, and it is worth seeking out...

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    2. Too Bad no one can make a more realistic, gritty movie of her life. For instance, what I read of Louis McKay- he was no Billy Dee Williams!

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    3. Ken Burns would have made a great documentary.

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  18. This is truly a shame, the results of slavery . Black people not being able
    to find jobs, housing, and discrimination. Folks putting drugs in neighborhoods to make money on the weak.

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    1. Stop it, please. Many people were discriminated against in the past. Not only black people. There was no conspiracy to hold blacks down with drugs. Many successful black people made it. We have a black president. Stop with the victim.It's been beaten like a dead horse.

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    2. So blacks must now be living in that post racist America,Wow. black president yes that have been undermined his whole presidency

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    3. What other Americans were refused the careers of their choice,forced to live in substandard housing,denied or limited bank loans,their children plagued by drugs not made available anywhere else but in black neighb orhoods,and that BLACK president was raised in white surroundings with the benefit of years of white opportunity denied blacks.....many have made it,but most still struggle thanks to past policies

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    4. CebuSalute I'm sorry but you are very misinformed. Billy was HUNTED down by Anslinger & taken on his personal mission to destroy her because she was a "dirty black N" he was the head of the Federal Narcotics Bureau & made it his mission to take down as many blacks, asians, & latinos as he could. This hatred & panic is STILL going on today & you can see it today in any jail or prison by the number of minorities who are imprisoned for minor drug crimes versus their white counter parts. The Drig War was started by him & Billy was the poster child for it. If you don't know this then you need to do more research. I recommend reading Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari. It's very informative about how she was hunted down and essentially murdered.

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    5. I second that.

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  19. Being born in the 1915 living through awful times for Blacks in America. Treatment of any kind for any thing was virtually impossible. I am a recovered addict I get it Billie. Some have to die in order for others to live. RIP Ms Billie.

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    1. I agree Being born Blacks in America living through those awful times. Their have been attempt over the years to try and separate the two things as if Newton's law of action and reaction have no bearing as if she was living in a vacuum.

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    2. I totally agree with your comments. I can't imagine treatment of a person because of their skin color...we all bleed red...just saying.

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  20. The first paragraph, she didn’t know her father and mother was prostitute. “By the age of fourteen, Billie herself was a prostitute” Great. But wouldn’t have been more honest to ask the question what must it have been like to be born black in an America were there was no place for you and your people. and how that contribute to that sad and tragic life you all love so much. Has if there is a separation of those two things their is not. I'm bored to death of the never ending playing of the sad life of Billie Holiday ( were I no longer say I’m fan of her’s) but who is it for ? maybe an answer to her sad life can be fond in Leroy Jones play the Dutchman, That maybe if she could have killed ten whites a day it may have been a panacea to her sad life.

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    1. What exactly are you trying to say? Just state it, don't refer to a play, please. I haven't time to research that. Thank you.

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    2. You should research and read it , it will answer lot's of questions. I said it, the quote refereed to Charlie Parker if he could have killed ten white men a day he would have no need to play the Blues and it would have been the same for Billie.

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    3. What foolish words. They were hard times for blacks. Today not at all.

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    4. I know that things were different 100 years ago and black people faced a lot of racism 50 + years ago but you can’t blame racism for her sad life. Her mom had her out of wedlock and was a prostitute. She never had a father figure growing up and then made bad decisions herself. She obviously had no control over the way she was brought into this world but she chose the path she took as an adult. Many people have horrible things happen to them and they choose to better their lives and other choose to make theirs even worse. No doubt she would’ve had to work harder as a black woman in the 1930s and she faced a lot of discrimination along the way but her drug and alcohol addiction had nothing to do with being black.

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  21. Beautiful article. Her voice is so powerful. You can feel the heartache and pain through her music.

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  22. Annabellesings@coxApril 16, 2016 at 7:32 AM

    I am watching Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill with Audra McDonald as Lady Day. Amazing performance and play! I recommend it!

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  23. What a wonderful extremely talented woman who unfortunately grew up in tragic circumstances. She chose to share her talent with the world. Unfortunately her addictions were stronger. People could we please STOP with saying her tragedy was because she was born black...yes, this caused her setbacks..but come on anyone born into those circumstances no matter what your color could have ended up and do end up in much worse shape.

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  24. That is sad how her and her mom has to go through that and sadly lost her life to drug abuse. She was a amazing singer.

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  25. Sad life in what we have seen. But people make choices an although she sang she made a whole lot of them. The entertainers of that time period indulged​ n drugs very often. I'm sure they never thought that it would be to their demise. She sang her emotions through her life experiences. Which made her one of a kind, nobody like her ever. Ima end with this don't be angry with me but if someone could have spoken to her about her soul an where she expected to spend eternity, do u think jus maybe her choices would've been better an her life a little more happier.

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  26. Pain makes you choose strangers for friends. None of us here were in her situation, so not a one of us can pass judgement. Rest peacefully, Lady Day; you always did know just how to sing the blues.

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  27. Would anyone happen to know what room or floor Lady Day died in/on?

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  28. There never was and never will be another Billie Holiday.The Lady,the lioness,the lonely and the legend.Through her recordings she still Lives.Thank You,Billie for all you gave the world & continue to give.Hopefully one day you will receive the medals you so richly deserve and earned!

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  29. I saw and heard Lady Day in a concert in NY's Central Park in the summer of 1957. She stroke me as a tall strong woman. I recall that she sang a protest song I have never heard again. It started with the words "What I am bid, what am I bid" from a slave auction. By the way she was a very light skinned black. She projected dignity and strength.

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  30. Funny how Lady Sings the Blues portrayed Louis as a compassionate man and only looking out for Billie when in real life that was so untrue. Hollywood film crap. Ken Burns would have told the story like it was.

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  31. I just watched the movie about Billie Holiday's life. I felt so bad for her. I'm sure it was tough enough to grow up in poverty and without a stable home life Then add to that having to deal with being in a "man's world" and in a society of racism and bigotry towards blacks. God bless her. My heart goes out to her having to struggle with all she did. In the end, the drug problem turned out to be her undoing in more ways than one. So sad.

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  32. Audra McDonalds portrayal of Billie is quite literally staggering .. and brilliant.
    With all the comments above, hers is a performance that brings to life how Billie fought her demons thru singing. She was a strong but wounded soul.
    GOD bless her spirit, and may she rest eternally in peace.

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  33. Everyone wanting to rationalize her drug addiction, drinking and self-destructive relationships with worthless, violent men, need to ask the following. Why was it that millions of 20th Century Black Americans, many of whom faced the same brutal segregation and constricted opportunities not destroy themselves with addiction like Billie Holiday did? Many of them faced the same or greater problems and neither became addicts nor made excuses for those who did? Tens of thousands of Black American women were born in 1915, with no greater privilege or comfort than her, but lived long past 44 years old. For sure the police didn't make her self-destruction any easier, but that was largely a reflection of there being little sympathy for drug addicts in general, not solely due to the attitudes of a seemingly bigoted, nasty FBI director.

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  34. Diana Ross' singing in the movie impressed me. Her voice was a musical gem

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  35. what was the problem of the drugs stoping

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  36. Did she live in Addisleigh Park, NY?

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  37. Billie Holiday was the best female singer of all time, Whitney Houston would be #2 Ironic that they both died of complications from drugs. They both had Tragic pasts that weighed on their lives. Their voices cannot be copied, a true gift from God. In the words of MJ Gone Too Soon.

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  38. People wonder why music is not as Soulful as what it used to be! People don't live the lives live as hard as what people used to that's what brings out true emotion in music!

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  39. Mariah Carey (b 3.27.70) is the reincarnation of Billie Holiday (d July 19, 1959).

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  40. So we not going to discuss the FBI agent that stayed in her room who was a racist and had nurses stop giving her meds? All because he didnt like that song strange fruit.

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  41. The United States vs. Billie Holiday directed by Lee Daniels. Expected release date December 2020.

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  42. Wow! What an incredible, amazing, interesting, ironic sad story. Thank you so much for your wonderful post. I’ve read several good comments here. I hope to read some of your posts in the near future. 👍🎶

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  43. Why Louis McKay and his family tried to perpetuate the lie that he came into Billie's life in the 30s and was around when she went it prison and fought to get her off drugs for decades and never beat her and was nicer to her than any of her other men is beyond me. Lady Sings the Blues was a construct of McKay's imagination. He was a consultant on the story and poor Mr. Gordy did not know any better because in 1970 we didn't know as much about Billie as we do now. McKay blatantly lied to Gordy. Says a lot about his character and explains why Billie herself called him the worst of all her men. I hate when people purposely try to rewrite history. McKay knew he was an a*hole. That's why he tried to convince us otherwise.

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  44. Diana Ross should've won the Oscar for her portrayel of Holiday!
    There is a movie coming out soon 2021 named The United States vs Billie Holiday based on the book Chasing the scream, Absolutely riveting and so truth telling story about the Narcotic officer who was obsessed with Billie Holiday haunting and racist as were many in those times!
    Billie Holiday's story should be told in truth she was a great singer and her legacy to Jazz will live on for many generations to come. Her life was very hard and her addiction is a story that til this day resonates with many singer and actors who have left us too soon and for those who are afraid to tell there story she's an inspiration to alot of people that didn't have help or the opportunity to even get the help they needed imagine 1950s struggling with drug addiction and being hunted like if you were a drug dealer and not really looking at the root of what addiction can do to a person and there families!

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  45. I never knew anything about Ms.Lady Day how ever im willing to do a research on her. To see what I can see on my own about her I will say let her Soul Rest In Heaven❤

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  46. Sad, So sad was Billie's life but her voice when singing Strange Fruit said it all. I have admired Billie for many years and knew her life was troubled but after seeing " The United States vs. Billie Holiday. Even though I was not there, it made me so sad that white folks worked so hard to destroy her. At least now Billie your are finally at peace.

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