One of the greats of jazz was the amazing Billie Holiday. Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. She co-wrote only a few songs, but several of them have become jazz standards, notably "God Bless the Child", "Don't Explain", "Fine and Mellow", and "Lady Sings the Blues". She also became famous for singing "Easy Living", "Good Morning Heartache", and "Strange Fruit". Billie, who had an addiction to alcohol and drugs, was arrested on a few occasions for drug possession. As her health declined in the 1950's, so did the quality of her voice and career. In 1959, she was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver, and died from pulmonary edema and heart failure caused by the cirrhosis on July 17 of that year. As she was dying in the hospital, Billie was once again arrested for drug possession and police were guarding her hospital room until the end. She is buried at Saint Raymond's Cemetery in the Bronx, NY...
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