Born: April 7, 1915 | Died: July 17, 1959 Primary Instrument:
Vocal Billie Holiday (Lady Day) is considered by many to be the
greatest of all jazz singers. In a tragically abbreviated
singing career that lasted less than three decades, her
evocative phrasing and poignant delivery profoundly influenced
vocalists who followed her. Although her warm, feathery voice
inhabited a limited range, she used it like an accomplished jazz
instrumentalist, stretching and condensing phrases in an ever-
shifting dialogue with accompanying musicians. Famous for
delivering lyrics a bit behind the beat, she alternately endowed
them with sadness, sensuality, languor, and irony. Rarely
singing blues, Holiday performed mostly popular material,
communicating deep emotion by stripping down rather than
dressing up words and lines. If you find a tune that's got
something to do with you, you just feel it, and when you sing
it, other people feel it, too, Holiday once explained. According
to the Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music, She