biography
| name: |
Smith, Bessie
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| |
nickname Empress of the Blues
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| sex:
| female
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| lived:
| (c.1895–1937)
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| biography:
| Blues singer, born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA. Raised in poverty in the US South, she ran away as a teenager with Ma Rainey's Rabbit Foot Minstrels, a black revue. She began her career in the modest circuit of vaudeville tents and small theatres, but her magnificent voice, blues-based repertoire, and vivacious stage presence soon gained her recognition as one of the outstanding African-American artistes of her day. She made a series of recordings throughout the 1920s, accompanied by leading jazz musicians, including Louis Armstrong, and these are regarded as classic blues statements. She starred in the 1929 film, St Louis Blues. |
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