Billie Holiday JAZZ SINGER

ABOUT

American jazz singer and songwriter who sang "Strange Fruit," "Easy Living," and "Lady Sings the Blues." She has been the recipient of numerous awards, including being a Grammy Award Hall of Fame inductee.

BEFORE FAMEShe went to New York City where she and her mother both ended up in prostitution and were later sent to prison.

TRIVIAAfter her release from prison at age fourteen, she began singing under the stagename Billie Holiday. Holiday's name came from Billie Dove, an actress, and the man she believed to be her father, Clarence Holiday.

FAMILY LIFEShe married Jimmy Monroe on August 25, 1941 and, after their divorce in 1957, she married Louis McKay on March 28, 1957.

ASSOCIATED WITHShe was good friends with fellow jazz legend