Born on April 25th, 1917 Ella
Fitzgerald was the first Black female to win a Grammy Award, two of
them the first year it was even a thing to win. Within the 60 years
that she spent recording music she won a total of 13 Grammy's and
sold 40 million copies of over 70 albums. She was born in Newport
News, Virginia to unmarried parents that separated within a year of
her being born. Her mother got with another guy and they moved to New
York as part of the Great Migration. At the age of 6 Ella began
attending school. As a child she loved dancing and would perform for
her family and students in school. After the death of her mother
while Ella was still a teen, her grades dropped in school and she
began ditching.
After leaving home due to her abusive stepfather she
worked as a look out at a brothel. After police found her she was
placed in an orphanage and then a reformatory for girls. He
eventually escaped and began singing at the age of 17, making her
debut at the Apollo Theater. She was going to dance during Amateur
Night but decided to sing after being intimated by a local dancing
duo. She won the first prize of a whopping $25. That was a lot back
then. She was discovered singing for pennies by someone in the
industry and his manager was reluctant to bring in a homeless teen
singer until he heard her sing. Ella performed with Benny Goodman and
his orchestra even after his death as well as having her own side
projects. In 1942 she debuted in a Abbott & Costello movie Ride
'Em Cowboy. Due to her undeniable talent, by the 1950's and 60's she
was dubbed The First Lady Of Song. I had heard of Ella growing up
from various sources and when listening to some of her songs I
totally recognized her voice and even imitations of it from old
cartoons I watched growing up. She passed away in 1996 after a series
of debilitating illnesses at home.
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