How Did Nina Waymone Change The Music Industry

A passionate American jazz singer, pianist, songwriter, and a Civil Rights activist, Nina Simone would change the music industry forever. She was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina February 21st, 1933 (2;3). Evident early in her life was her talent. At the age of three, she started playing piano by ear, able to listen to a tune and play it back on the piano (2;4). Her parents were both preachers, so consequently, she grew up in the church (2;4). Waymon studied classical piano at Julliard School of Music in New York City, but left before graduation due to financial issues (3;4). She then moved back to Philadelphia with her family and applied at the Curtis Institute of Music, but was rejected (3;4). She began to sing at night

During her employment, she adopted the stage name “Nina Simone” (3;4). “Nina” came from the Spanish word “niña,” which was a nickname used by her then boyfriend (3). “Simone” was inspired by the French film star, Simone Signoret (3;4). Though amateurish at vocals, Simone quickly learned to put words to her music and gained fans such as the famous Langston Hughes, Lorraine Hansberry, and James Baldwin (3). At the age of twenty-four, Simone caught the attention of the record industry (2). After submitting a few demo songs, she was signed by Syd Nathan, owner of Ohio-based King Records, to his jazz imprint, Bethlehem Records (2). Nathan averred he choose the songs for Simone’s debut, but eventually allowed her to choose for herself (2;4). After not seeing eye to eye with Nathan, she decided to move to New York City, where she signed a record deal with Colpix Records (2). Simone produced nine albums under this contract (2). In 1963, she wrote the song “Mississippi Goddam,” a controversial song, which became banned throughout the Southern United States (2;3). In 1964, Simone left Colpix and signed with Philips, where she recorded seven more albums (4). Simone, an activist for Civil Rights, went on to write numerous songs about racism and

She performed the song live at Carnegie Hall in New York City (5). The chorus of the song is “Alabama's gotten me so upset, Tennessee made me lose my rest, And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam” (6). The murder of Medgar Evans, a black civil rights activist, in Mississippi on June 12, 1963 and the church bombing in Alabama that killed four little black girls on September 15, 1963 lead Nina Simone to write “Mississippi Goddam” (1). Additionally, in 1960, sit-ins and protests were happening in Nashville, Tennessee, which lead to the bombing of the home of civil rights lawyer Z. Alexander Looby (5). The events that happened in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee upset Nina Simone tremendously. Simone locked herself in her room until the song was complete (1). With this song, Simone not only signified her own frustration with the treatment of the African-Americans, but she spoke for many others as