“No time to marry, no time to settle down; I’m a young woman, and I ain’t done runnin’ around” -Bessie Smith. Bessie Smith was a black jazz and blues vocalist, one of the greatest of her time. She was born on April 15, 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee to parents William and Laura Smith. Her father was a baptist minister who died shortly after her birth, Bessie was one of seven children. Her mother and two of her brothers died in 1906, leaving the rest of the children to be raised by their aunt. Not long after the tragedy, bessie became a street singer while one of her brothers accompanied her on the guitar. In 1912 she was a dancer in the Moses Stokes minstrel show, she did a few shows afterwards singing and dancing. In the early 20’s Bessie married Jack Gee and was discovered by a representative from Columbia records. From her very first recording “Downhearted Blues” was her most popular song, which sold 800,000 copies. Bessie died on September 26, 1937 when she was …show more content…
By the end of the 1920’s she was the highest paid black performer of her time, nicknamed the ‘Empress of Blues’. She typically sang about oppression, love, and poverty. Although these are topics of most Blues music, Bessie made it special with her unique contralto voice. At the beginning of her career the music industry was not actively searching for black female artists, however after her first hit the music industry wanted more. Bessie was also extremely influential on her fellow jazz singers as she became more well known. Janis Joplin, Mahalia Jackson, and Norah Jones have all recognized Bessie as one of their idols. She won multiple awards for her music such as Grammy Hall of Fame on three separate occasions, as well as the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Bessie Smith was, and still is, an influential figure who became successful against all odds and inspired others to do the