Before the weekend slips away, we want to remember Billie Holiday who died 52 years ago today. Only 44 years old, Holiday exited the world all too young. The years of drug and alcohol abuse, resulting in liver and heart disease, finally took their toll. And although she earned $1,000 per week at the high point of her career, she passed with a mere 70 cents in her bank account. But all of that doesn’t obscure her musical legacy.
To this day, Holiday is widely considered the greatest jazz vocalist of all time, known for her distinctive phrasing and melancholy voice. Above, we bring you her performance of “Strange Fruit,” a song recorded in 1939 that protested the lynching of African Americans in the South. The composition introduced Holiday to a mainstream audience, giving her career a big break. Down the line, Holiday closed every concert with the song, which continually grew in cultural importance. By 1999, TIME called “Strange Fruit” the song of the century, solidifying its place in the American songbook.
You can find this clip permanently housed in our collection of 275 Cultural Icons, which lets you revisit video of great artists, writers & thinkers…
une très très belle chanson qui brise le cÅ“ur et pousse à l’engagement
à écouter en boucle jusqu’à changer le monde