 = Nina Simone = 
 
 Nina Simone ( / ˈniːnə sᵻˈmoʊn / ; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon ; February 21 , 1933 – April 21 , 2003 ) was an American singer , songwriter , pianist , arranger , and civil rights activist who worked in a broad range of musical styles including classical , jazz , blues , folk , R & B , gospel , and pop . 
 Born in North Carolina , the sixth child of a preacher , Simone aspired to be a concert pianist . With the help of the few supporters in her hometown of Tryon , North Carolina , she enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York . 
 Waymon then applied for a scholarship to study at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia , where she was denied despite a well @-@ received audition . Simone became fully convinced this rejection had been entirely due to her race , a statement that has been a matter of controversy . Years later , two days before her death , the Curtis Institute of Music bestowed an honorary degree on Simone . 
 To make a living , Eunice Waymon changed her name to " Nina Simone " . The change related to her need to disguise herself from family members , having chosen to play " the devil 's music " or " cocktail piano " at a nightclub in Atlantic City . She was told in the nightclub that she would have to sing to her own accompaniment , and this effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist . 
 Simone recorded more than forty albums , mostly between 1958 , when she made her debut with Little Girl Blue , and 1974 , and had a hit in the United States in 1958 with " I Loves You , Porgy " . 
 Simone 's musical style fused gospel and pop with classical music , in particular Johann Sebastian Bach , and accompanied expressive , jazz @-@ like singing in her contralto voice . 
 
 = = Biography = = 
 
 
 = = = Youth ( 1933 – 54 ) = = = 
 
 Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in South Carolina but raised in Tryon , North Carolina . The sixth of eight children in a poor family , she began playing piano at age three ; the first song she learned was " God Be With You , Till We Meet Again " . Demonstrating a talent with the instrument , she performed at her local church . But her concert debut , a classical recital , was given when she was 12 . Simone later said that during this performance , her parents , who had taken seats in the front row , were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white people . She said that she refused to play until her parents were moved back to the front , and that the incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement . 
 Simone 's mother , Mary Kate Waymon ( 1902 - April 30 , 2001 ) , was a Methodist minister and a housemaid . Simone 's father , John Divine Waymon ( 1898 - October 24 , 1972 ) , was a handyman who at one time owned a dry cleaning business , but also suffered bouts of ill health . Simone 's music teacher helped establish a special fund to pay for her education . Subsequently , a local fund was set up to assist her continued education . With the help of this scholarship money she was able to attend Allen High School for Girls in Asheville , North Carolina . 
 After her graduation , Simone spent the summer of 1950 at the Juilliard School , preparing for an audition at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia . Her application , however , was denied . As her family had relocated to Philadelphia in the expectation of her entry to Curtis , the blow to her aspirations was particularly heavy , and she suspected that her application had been denied because of racial prejudice . Discouraged , she took private piano lessons with Vladimir Sokoloff , a professor at Curtis , but never re @-@ applied to the institution . For several years , she worked a number of menial jobs and taught piano in Philadelphia . 
 
 = = = Early success ( 1954 – 59 ) = = = 
 
 To fund her private lessons , Simone performed at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City , whose owner insisted that she sing as well as play the piano , which increased her weekly income to $ 90 a week . In 1954 , she adopted the stage name " Nina Simone " . " Nina " ( from niña , meaning " little girl " in Spanish ) , and " Simone " was taken from the French actress Simone Signoret , whom she had seen in the movie Casque d 'Or . Knowing her mother would not approve of playing the " Devil 's Music " , she used her new stage name to remain undetected . Simone 's mixture of jazz , blues , and classical music in her performances at the bar earned her a small but loyal fan base . 
 In 1958 , she befriended and married Don Ross , a beatnik who worked as a fairground barker , but quickly regretted their marriage . Playing in small clubs in the same year , she recorded George Gershwin 's " I Loves You , Porgy " ( from Porgy and Bess ) , which she learned from a Billie Holiday album and performed as a favor to a friend . It became her only Billboard top 20 success in the United States , and her debut album Little Girl Blue soon followed on Bethlehem Records . Simone lost more than $ 1 million in royalties ( notably for the 1980s re @-@ release of My Baby Just Cares for Me ) and never benefited financially from the album 's sales because she had sold her rights outright for $ 3 @,@ 000 . 
 
 = = = Becoming popular ( 1959 – 64 ) = = = 
 
 After the success of Little Girl Blue , Simone signed a contract with Colpix Records and recorded a multitude of studio and live albums . Colpix relinquished all creative control to her , including the choice of material that would be recorded , in exchange for her signing the contract with them . After the release of her live album Nina Simone at Town Hall , Simone became a favorite performer in Greenwich Village . By this time , Simone performed pop music only to make money to continue her classical music studies and was indifferent about having a recording contract . She kept this attitude toward the record industry for most of her career . 
 Simone married a New York police detective , Andrew Stroud , in 1961 . He later became her manager and the father of her daughter Lisa , but he abused Simone psychologically and physically . 
 
 = = = Civil rights era ( 1964 – 74 ) = = = 
 
 In 1964 , Simone changed record distributors from the American Colpix to the Dutch Philips , which also meant a change in the contents of her recordings . She had always included songs in her repertoire that drew upon her African @-@ American origins ( such as " Brown Baby " by Oscar Brown and " Zungo " by Michael Olatunji in her album Nina at the Village Gate in 1962 ) . On her debut album for Philips , Nina Simone in Concert ( live recording , 1964 ) , for the first time she openly addressed the racial inequality that was prevalent in the United States with the song " Mississippi Goddam " , her response to the June 12 , 1963 , murder of Medgar Evers and the September 15 , 1963 , bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham , Alabama , that killed four young black girls and partially blinded a fifth girl who survived . She remarked that the title and the song itself was , " like throwing 10 bullets back at them " , becoming one of many other protest songs written by Simone . The song was released as a single , and it was boycotted in certain southern states . Specifically , promotional copies were smashed by a Carolina radio station and returned to Simone 's record label . " Old Jim Crow " , on the same album , addressed the Jim Crow laws . 
 From then on , a civil rights message was standard in Simone 's recording repertoire , becoming a part of her live performances . During the rise of her political activism , the release of her musical work grew more infrequent . Simone performed and spoke at many civil rights meetings , such as at the Selma to Montgomery marches . Simone advocated violent revolution during the civil rights period , rather than Martin Luther King 's non @-@ violent approach , and she hoped that African Americans could , by armed combat , form a separate state . Her message to the public signified the transition from the non @-@ violent approach to social change that was advocated by Martin Luther King into the more militant state that was implemented by Malcolm X and the associates of the Black Nationalist Movement . Nevertheless , she wrote in her autobiography that she and her family regarded all races as equal . 
 Simone moved from Philips to RCA Victor during 1967 . She sang " Backlash Blues " , written by her friend Langston Hughes on her first RCA album , Nina Simone Sings the Blues ( 1967 ) . On Silk & Soul ( 1967 ) , she recorded Billy Taylor 's " I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free " and " Turning Point " . The album ' Nuff Said ! ( 1968 ) contains live recordings from the Westbury Music Fair , April 7 , 1968 , three days after the murder of Martin Luther King , Jr . She dedicated the whole performance to him and sang " Why ? ( The King Of Love Is Dead ) " , a song written by her bass player , Gene Taylor , directly after the news of King 's death had reached them . In the summer of 1969 , she performed at the Harlem Cultural Festival in Harlem 's Mount Morris Park . 
 Together with Weldon Irvine , Simone turned the late Lorraine Hansberry 's unfinished play To Be Young , Gifted and Black into a civil rights song . Hansberry had been a personal friend whom Simone credited with cultivating her social and political consciousness . She performed the song live on the album Black Gold ( 197gdjfhfhx0 ) . A studio recording was released as a single , and renditions of the song have been recorded by Aretha Franklin ( on her 1972 album Young , Gifted and Black ) and by Donny Hathaway . 
 
 = = = Later life ( 1974 – 1993 ) = = = 
 
 Disappointed that she was not producing the mega @-@ hits that she had hoped for , Simone left the US in September 1970 , flying to Barbados and expecting Stroud to communicate with her when she had to perform again . However , Stroud interpreted Simone 's sudden disappearance , and the fact that she had left behind her wedding ring , as an indication of a desire for a divorce . As her manager , Stroud was in charge of Simone 's income . 
 Simone recorded her last album for RCA , It Is Finished , in 1974 , and did not make another record until 1978 , when she was persuaded to go into the recording studio by CTI Records owner Creed Taylor . The result was the album Baltimore , which , while not a commercial success , was fairly well received critically and marked a quiet artistic renaissance in Simone 's recording output . Her choice of material retained its eclecticism , ranging from spiritual songs to Hall & Oates ' " Rich Girl . " Four years later Simone recorded Fodder on My Wings on a French label . 
 During the 1980s , Simone performed regularly at Ronnie Scott 's Jazz Club in London , where she recorded the album Live at Ronnie Scott 's in 1984 . Although her early on @-@ stage style could be somewhat haughty and aloof , in later years , Simone particularly seemed to enjoy engaging her audiences sometimes by recounting humorous anecdotes related to her career and music and by soliciting requests . In 1987 , the original 1958 recording of " My Baby Just Cares for Me " was used in a commercial for Chanel No. 5 perfume in Britain . This led to a re @-@ release of the recording , which stormed to number 4 on the UK 's NME singles chart , giving her a brief surge in popularity in the UK . 
 When Simone returned to the United States , she learned that a warrant had been issued for her arrest for unpaid taxes ( as a protest against her country 's involvement with the Vietnam War ) , and returned to Barbados to evade the authorities and prosecution . Simone stayed in Barbados for quite some time and she had a lengthy affair with the Prime Minister , Errol Barrow . A close friend , singer Miriam Makeba , then persuaded her to go to Liberia . Later , she lived in Switzerland and the Netherlands , before settling in France in 1993 . During a 1998 performance in Newark , she announced , " If you 're going to come see me again , you 've got to come to France , because I ain 't coming back . " 
 Simone published her autobiography , I Put a Spell on You , in 1992 . She recorded her last album , A Single Woman in 1993 , where she depicted herself as such " single woman . " This album reflected her solitude and pain . She continued to tour through the 1990s but rarely traveled without an entourage . During the last decade of her life , Simone had sold more than one million records making her a global catalog best @-@ seller . This was accompanied by the CD revolution , global exposure through media television and the novelty of the Internet . 
 
 = = = Illness and death = = = 
 
 Simone had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the late 1980s . In 1993 , Simone settled near Aix @-@ en @-@ Provence in Southern France . She had suffered from breast cancer for several years before she died in her sleep at her home in Carry @-@ le @-@ Rouet , Bouches @-@ du @-@ Rhône on April 21 , 2003 . Her funeral service was attended by singers Miriam Makeba and Patti LaBelle , poet Sonia Sanchez , actor Ossie Davis , actress Ruby Dee , and hundreds of others . Simone 's ashes were scattered in several African countries . She is survived by her daughter , Lisa Celeste Stroud , an actress and singer , who took the stage name Simone , and has appeared on Broadway in Aida . 
 
 = = = Reputation = = = 
 
 Simone was known for her temper and frequent outbursts . In 1985 , she fired a gun at a record company executive , whom she accused of stealing royalties . Simone said she " tried to kill him " but " missed " . In 1995 , she shot and wounded her neighbor 's son with an air gun after the boy 's laughter disturbed her concentration . According to a biographer , Simone took medication for a condition from the mid @-@ 1960s on . All this was only known to a small group of intimates , and kept out of public view for many years , until the biography Break Down and Let It All Out written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan revealed this in 2004 , after her death . Singer @-@ songwriter Janis Ian , a one @-@ time friend of Simone 's , related in her own autobiography , Society 's Child : My Autobiography , two incidents to illustrate Simone 's volatility : One incident in which she forced a shoe store cashier , at gunpoint , to take back a pair of sandals she 'd already worn ; and another in which Simone demanded a royalty payment from Ian herself as an exchange for having recorded one of Ian 's songs , and then ripped a pay telephone out of its wall when she was refused . 
 
 = = Musical style = = 
 
 
 = = = Simone standards = = = 
 
 Throughout her career , Simone assembled a collection of songs that would later become standards in her repertoire . Some were songs that she wrote herself , while others were new arrangements of other standards , and others had been written especially for the singer . Her first hit song in America was her rendition of George Gershwin 's " I Loves You , Porgy " ( 1958 ) . It peaked at number 18 in the pop singles chart and number 2 on the black singles chart . During that same period Simone recorded " My Baby Just Cares for Me " , which would become her biggest success years later , in 1987 , after it was featured in a 1986 Chanel No. 5 perfume commercial . A music video was also created by Aardman Studios . Well known songs from her Philips albums include " Don 't Let Me Be Misunderstood " on Broadway @-@ Blues @-@ Ballads ( 1964 ) , " I Put a Spell on You " , " Ne me quitte pas " ( a rendition of a Jacques Brel song ) and " Feeling Good " on I Put a Spell On You ( 1965 ) , " Lilac Wine " and " Wild Is the Wind " on Wild is the Wind ( 1966 ) . 
 " Don 't Let Me Be Misunderstood " , " Feeling Good " , and " Sinner Man " ( Pastel Blues , 1965 ) have remained popular in terms of cover versions ( most notably a version of the former song by The Animals ) , sample usage , and its use on soundtracks for various movies , TV @-@ series , and video games . " Sinner Man " has been featured in the TV series Scrubs , Person of Interest , The Blacklist , Sherlock , and Vinyl , as well as in movies such as The Thomas Crown Affair , Miami Vice , and Inland Empire , and sampled by artists such as Talib Kweli and Timbaland . The song " Don 't Let Me Be Misunderstood " was sampled by Devo Springsteen on " Misunderstood " from Common 's 2007 album Finding Forever , and by little @-@ known producers Rodnae and Mousa for the song " Don 't Get It " on Lil Wayne 's 2008 album Tha Carter III . " See @-@ Line Woman " was sampled by Kanye West for " Bad News " on his album 808s & Heartbreak . The 1965 rendition of " Strange Fruit " originally by Billie Holiday was sampled by Kanye West for " Blood on the Leaves " on his album Yeezus . 
 Simone 's years at RCA @-@ Victor spawned a number of singles and album tracks that were popular , particularly in Europe . In 1968 , it was " Ain 't Got No , I Got Life " , a medley from the musical Hair from the album ' Nuff Said ! ( 1968 ) that became a surprise hit for Simone , reaching number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and introducing her to a younger audience . In 2006 , it returned to the UK Top 30 in a remixed version by Groovefinder . 
 The following single , a rendition of the Bee Gees 's " To Love Somebody " , also reached the UK Top 10 in 1969 . " The House of the Rising Sun " was featured on Nina Simone Sings the Blues in 1967 , but Simone had recorded the song in 1961 and it was featured on Nina at the Village Gate ( 1962 ) , predating the versions by Dave Van Ronk and Bob Dylan . It was later covered by The Animals , for whom it became a signature hit . 
 
 = = = Performing style = = = 
 
 Simone 's bearing and stage presence earned her the title " High Priestess of Soul " . She was a piano player , singer and performer , " separately , and simultaneously . " As a composer and arranger , Simone moved from gospel to blues , jazz , and folk , and to numbers with European classical styling . Besides using Bach @-@ style counterpoint , she called upon the particular virtuosity of the 19th @-@ century Romantic piano repertoire — Chopin , Liszt , Rachmaninoff , and others . Onstage , she incorporated monologues and dialogues with the audience into the program , and often used silence as a musical element . She compared it to " mass hypnosis . I use it all the time . " Throughout most of her life and recording career she was accompanied by percussionist Leopoldo Fleming and guitarist and musical director Al Schackman . She 's known to have lived 10 years with Emmanuel Macron from France 
 
 = = Legacy and influence = = 
 
 
 = = = Music = = = 
 
 Musicians who have cited Simone as important for their own musical upbringing include Elton John ( who named one of his pianos after her ) , Aretha Franklin , Adele , David Bowie , Emeli Sandé , Antony and the Johnsons , Dianne Reeves , Sade , Beyoncé , Janis Joplin , Nick Cave , Van Morrison , Christina Aguilera , Elkie Brooks , Talib Kweli , Mos Def , Kanye West , Lena Horne , Bono , John Legend , Elizabeth Fraser , Cat Stevens , Anna Calvi , Lykke Li , Peter Gabriel , Maynard James Keenan , Cedric Bixler @-@ Zavala , Mary J. Blige , Fantasia Barrino , Michael Gira , Angela McCluskey , Lauryn Hill , Patrice Babatunde , Alicia Keys , Lana Del Rey , Hozier , Matt Bellamy , Ian MacKaye , Kerry Brothers , Jr . , Krucial , Amanda Palmer , Steve Adey and Jeff Buckley . John Lennon cited Simone 's version of " I Put a Spell on You " as a source of inspiration for the Beatles ' song " Michelle " . 
 Simone 's music has been featured in soundtracks of various motion pictures and video games , including but not limited to , La Femme Nikita ( 1990 ) , Point of No Return ( 1993 ) , The Big Lebowski ( 1998 ) , Notting Hill ( 1999 ) , Any Given Sunday ( 1999 ) , The Thomas Crown Affair ( 1999 ) , Disappearing Acts ( 2000 ) , Six Feet Under ( 2001 ) , The Dancer Upstairs ( 2002 ) , Before Sunset ( 2004 ) , Cellular ( 2004 ) , Inland Empire ( 2006 ) , Miami Vice ( 2006 ) , Sex and the City ( 2008 ) , The World Unseen ( 2008 ) , Revolutionary Road ( 2008 ) , Home ( 2008 ) , Watchmen ( 2009 ) , The Saboteur ( 2009 ) , Repo Men ( 2010 ) , and Beyond the Lights ( 2014 ) . Frequently her music is used in remixes , commercials , and TV series including " Feeling Good " , which featured prominently in the Season Four Promo of Six Feet Under ( 2004 ) . Simone 's " Take Care of Business " is the closing theme of " The Man From U.N.C.L.E. " ( 2015 ) 
 
 = = = Film = = = 
 
 The documentary Nina Simone : La légende ( The Legend ) was made in the 1990s by French filmmakers , based on her autobiography I Put a Spell on You . It features live footage from different periods of her career , interviews with family , various interviews with Simone then living in the Netherlands , and while on a trip to her birthplace . A portion of footage from The Legend was taken from an earlier 26 @-@ minute biographical documentary by Peter Rodis , released in 1969 and entitled simply , Nina . Her filmed 1976 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival is available on video courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment and is screened annually in New York City at an event called " The Rise and Fall of Nina Simone : Montreux , 1976 " which is curated by Tom Blunt . 
 Footage of Simone singing " Mississippi Goddamn " for 40 @,@ 000 marchers at the end of the Selma to Montgomery marches can be seen in the 1970 documentary King : A Filmed Record ... Montgomery to Memphis and the 2015 Liz Garbus documentary , What Happened , Miss Simone ? 
 Plans for a Simone biographical film were released at the end of 2005 , to be based on Simone 's autobiography I Put a Spell on You ( 1992 ) and to focus on her relationship in later life with her assistant , Clifton Henderson , who died in 2006 ; Simone 's daughter , Simone Kelly , has since refuted the existence of a romantic relationship between Simone and Henderson on account of his homosexuality . Cynthia Mort , screenwriter of Will & Grace and Roseanne , has written the screenplay and directed the film , Nina , which stars Zoe Saldana in the title role . In May 2014 , the film was shown to potential distributors at the Cannes Film Festival , but has , as of August 2014 , not been seen by reviewers . 
 In 2015 , two documentary features about Simone 's life and music were released . The first , directed by Liz Garbus , What Happened , Miss Simone ? was produced in cooperation with Simone 's estate and her daughter , who also served as the film 's executive producer . The film was produced as a counterpoint to the unauthorized Cynthia Mort film , and featured previously unreleased archival footage . It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2015 and was distributed by Netflix on June 26 , 2015 . It was nominated on January 14 , 2016 for a 2016 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature . The Amazing Nina Simone is an independent film directed by Jeff L. Lieberman and is also scheduled for release in 2015 . The director initially consulted with Simone 's daughter before going the independent route and instead worked closely with her siblings , predominantly Sam Waymon . 
 
 = = = Honors = = = 
 
 Simone was the recipient of a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2000 for her interpretation of " I Loves You , Porgy . " She has also received fifteen Grammy Award nominations . On Human Kindness Day 1974 in Washington , D.C. , more than 10 @,@ 000 people paid tribute to Simone . Simone received two honorary degrees in music and humanities , from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Malcolm X College . She preferred to be called " Dr. Nina Simone " after these honors were bestowed upon her . 
 Two days before her death , Simone was awarded an honorary degree by the Curtis Institute of Music , the music school that had refused to admit her as a student at the beginning of her career . 
 In 2002 , the city of Nijmegen , Netherlands , named a street after her , the Nina Simone straat ; she had lived in Nijmegen between 1988 and 1990 . On August 29 , 2005 , the city of Nijmegen , concert hall De Vereeniging , and more than fifty artists ( amongst whom were Frank Boeijen , Rood Adeo , and Fay Claassen ) honoured Simone with the tribute concert Greetings From Nijmegen . 
 Simone was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2009 . 
 In 2010 , a statue in her honor was erected in Trade Street in her native Tryon , North Carolina . 
 
 = = Discography = = 
 
 
 = = = Albums = = = 
 
 
 = = = Chart singles = = = 
 
 
 