the 1960s, a civil rights activist and a woman you don't mess with on 01’ and a woman you don't mess with on or off stage. she has worked with martin luther king and has sung everywhere. once she even shot at somebody. still a huge star and as powerful as at all, she is a guest today on hardtalk. —— as powerful as ever. # i love you, porgy # i love you, porgy # don't let him take me. # don't let him take me. # don't let them handle me. # don't let them handle me. # and drive me mad. # and drive me mad. #if # and drive me mad. # if you can keep me, i want to stay here with you forever, two days after forever, # with you forever... # with you forever... # ‘cause i got my man. nina simone, doctor simone, a very warm welcome to the programme. thank you tim sebastian, you have the same name as my first love. i can't lose with that, can i? no, you can't. tell me about music as a political weapon. 0h, about music as a political weapon. oh, now. that is a hard one. as a political weapon. it has helped me for 30 years defend the rights of american blacks and third world people all over the world and to defend them with protest songs. and it helps to change the world. when you get up on the stage and you sing what‘s in your mind, just the singing, or... no, to move the audience. to make them conscious of what has been done to my people around the world. so, you sing from anger? no, i sing from... intelligence. a scene from letting them know that i know who they are ——i sing. and what they have done to my people around the world. that‘s not anger. anger, anger has its place. anger has fire and fire moves things! but i think from intelligence, i don‘t want them to think that i don‘t know who they are, darling. who are they? they are the white people around the world with exception of nelson mandela who i met this year. i went to his marriage and anniversary in 1998. and you were disappointed? no, he is a saint, the greatest person on the earth. how much does your success mean to you? it means a great deal to me and my stage presence and being on stage means a great deal to me. my music is first in my life. and what is a second? what do you sacrifice for your music?” and what is a second? what do you sacrifice for your music? i don't sacrifice for your music? i don't sacrifice anything from my music but secondly, i would love to be married, you know, ithink a married the ——i would marry the cameraman over there. that is second to my music. my music, nothing takes its place, nothing. you have been married before. twice. unlucky in love ? married before. twice. unlucky in love? unlucky in marriages. not so unlucky at love. lots of love, to marriages. yes. why didn't they work out? the music got in the way in the one where i married the crop from the united states. the music got in the united states. the music got in the way. ——. and he treated me like horse. —— horse. a non—stop, workaholic. and the one in tunisia, that was very hot like a volcano and his family didn‘t want him to move to france and france didn‘t want him because he is a north african. and the volcano didn‘t last? because he is a north african. and the volcano didn't last? no but it lasted long enough for me never to forget it, i will tell you that. among all the unforgettable things and people in your life, there was martin luther king, wasn‘t there? yes, well i marched with him, i knew him,| yes, well i marched with him, i knew him, i composed a song for him, i knew his wife, all his children and i was knew his wife, all his children and iwas in knew his wife, all his children and i was in the march with him and the march on alabama at the college and the march on washington. i was right beside his side. we saw the public face, the public man. what was he like in the private moments? darling, he was always on stage. his dedication was of such immense proportion that he never forgot for a minute that he was there to lead my people. he neverforgot a minute that he was there to lead my people. he never forgot that for a minute. and when he was not on stage, he was still on stage. he was a lwa ys stage, he was still on stage. he was always talking about equal rights. you said in the past that you would have worked to try to get him the presidency. do you think realistically that he could ever have had a shot? yes, he could halve. yet he could have, baby. it could have. if he hadn‘t gotten killed and we had a little bit more support. do you really think america was ready for a black president? yes, i do. because even black politicians in washington these days don‘t think it is the case. politicians in washington these days don't think it is the case. not now! jessejohnson was no match for him. there has not been a man since then. and his dream came true with nelson mandela. because nelson got it done in south africa. in south africa. so the same thing that was done in south africa could have... could have been done in the united states, yes. i distinctly believe that. i need a cigarette. you are making the heart. can i have a light? please? go ahead. how did you feel when he died? 0h, odd, man, iwas devastated. i wrote a song called the king of love is dead. i think i must have cried for two weeks. and it killed my inspiration for the civil rights movement. i am ready. and the united states and i moved away. you are also scared, weren't you? because away. you are also scared, weren't you ? because of away. you are also scared, weren't you? because of all the killing going on... robert kennedy and jack kennedy were killed. do you think they were coming after you? not only that, the fbi was after the! they had a file on you. in washington. you never saw it? i was told about it and you never saw it? i was told about itandi you never saw it? i was told about it and i wrote a book called i put a cat max bell on you. i did ——i put a speu cat max bell on you. i did ——i put a spell on you. i was rejected for a scholarship from university and i was asked if i had ever been mixed up was asked if i had ever been mixed up in the rebellion. he said they never found anything that they actually went to curtis institute and enquired about me. doctor simone, you were born in north carolina. very poor, yourfamily. yes, very poor. a lot of love. a lot of love. not much to it? at times... my of love. not much to it? at times... my mother had a saying, she said well, we don‘t know what we‘re going to get dinner tonight but i will pray and it will come and sure enough, she prayed and it came. she had been a ministerfor 57 enough, she prayed and it came. she had been a minister for 57 years. she is now 97 years old. you first sang in her church. what was that like? it was fun because i had never studied the piano. i was a child prodigy. so when they got up and started shouting, i started playing. literally just sat down and started shouting, i started playing. literallyjust sat down and started a... started playing. the first song i played with god be with you. i play bad as three years old. and many went on to train as a classical pianist. that was your love, wasn‘t it? i'm not over it yet. are you disappointed that you didn‘t, in the end, become what you and your parents... yes, yes it! the first black concert pianist. yes, we don't have any! all we have is andre watts and they don‘t except in very much because he is part german. the blacks didn‘t accept him but they would have accepted me. at the age of 12, you are playing in a library, we re of 12, you are playing in a library, were due? a music library. yes, my first recital. —— weren‘t you. were due? a music library. yes, my first recital. -- weren't you. sub —— somebody said something to your pa rents. —— somebody said something to your parents. they put me in a room to watch me and i got up briefly and i said if my parents don‘t sit in the front seat, i don‘t play. said if my parents don‘t sit in the front seat, i don't play. and they will put their web that —— they were put there because they were black. it was my first encounter with racism. my favourite record that i listen to now is marianne anderson who is the first, the world‘s first black, i listen to her every morning. she wakes me up and gives me inspiration to start the day. she sings the song of the lord, wait patiently for him and he will give you your heart‘s desire. and he will give you your heart‘s desire. religion is deeply ingrained. deeply ingrained. all religions. i don't believe in any one religion. no, i don‘t believe in one religion. i believe in allah, i believe in the hindu religion because i studied y°93 hindu religion because i studied yoga for years. i believe in bodies, i believe in all of them because they are necessary for the sheep, darling. the sheep have to have something to follow. and religion is necessary. i believe in all of them. so when you got turned down by the curtis school in philadelphia, you needed to make some money, didn‘t you? yes. so you started playing in bars and supper parties... yes, i did. what was that like? it was awful. but it got his money. it got me $900 a week. i gave 50 a week to my parents. and they came to philadelphia to be close to you. yes. what was your big break? atla ntic yes. what was your big break? atlantic city. playing in the supper club. singing the song porgy which was given to me by assam, as student. ——a fan. he liked billie holiday. i can‘t stand her but he liked her. and he asked if i would sing it. so because i didn‘t have to practise my piano to work in atla ntic practise my piano to work in atlantic city, i learnt the song and first sang it there in a bar. an agent heard me and took me to new york and put it on our record. and then in 1957 came carnegie hall. that is right. a huge success, wasn‘t it? yes, it was. but something disappointed you because you wrote a letter to your parents, didn‘t you? i don‘t remember that now. you apparently wrote a letter to your parents saying "this is where you wanted me to play, but i should have been playing bach." bach. your favourite composer. idid. i did do that. so this was your glorious occasion, but you were still disappointed. well, i loved the audience, but i wasn‘t playing classical music, and i wanted to be, and so i wrote, and i quote again what you have just said, i wrote, "yes, i‘m in carnegie hall, finally, but i‘m not playing bach." and then came "my baby just cares for me." oh, well that‘s years later. years later, but it was huge, wasn‘t it? yes, it was huge. it started out as a song for it an ad, didn‘t it? no, it started out as a piece of play—doh for children in england. it started out as a video for children. and then it, umm, it got bigger and bigger, and everybody started to hear it, and it became very famous, and it is the most famous song i have recorded. people say it turned you from cult into legend. yeah. i think so. so, you knew after that you are on your way. yeah. i was on my way before that because, let‘s face it, i had been playing, i was playing, around the world before then. i heard about it in switzerland. when you left america in 1972, you left because you couldn‘t... racism. just that? racism. you couldn‘t stand it any longer. i couldn‘t stand it. i stil can‘t stand it. crossing the street! you get races and crossing the street! you get it in every... it‘s in the very fabric of american society. you cannot stand to go to america? no, i can‘t. i went this year for the first time. two times. and i worked in newark, new stadium, and seattle, and they were so happy and surprised to see me because they had not seen me in how many years, clifton? seven. in seven years. but you didn‘t feel well treated? this time. yes. this time they were more than happy to see me. they had not seen me in so long they thought i was dead. but you would not go back and live there? no way! and you keep telling them that? no way am i going to ever go back there again. and i am not the only one. josephine baker went back twice, and after her second time she never went back. so you travel to liberia, didn‘t you? oh, yes. and that was apparently the happiest time in your life. it was. why? i was at home. and, you remember that liberia had a liaison with america, so it was known as a place for blacks whom they could not contain, and they were all rich, and lived on the beach. i had house servants and the president‘s daughter gave me a house on the beach. i stayed on the beach every damn day. it was fantastic. i was happier there, and what‘s more, i got engaged to the foreign minister‘s father, who was at that time 70 years old. but he was killed, wasn‘t he? yes, he was killed, they killed 13 of them. ina coup. life seems to have gone wrong for you. no. i wouldn‘t say that. my music has always lifted me, and i have had a few love affairs. life has not gone wrong for me. i have been unlucky... no, i haven‘t been. no, i have no complaints about my life. but in 1978, in england, you told a newspaper "my personal life is a shambles, i‘m black, and i‘ve been struggling for half my life. well, that‘s true. my personal life was a shambles. and it still is. i don‘t have a lover. i have a friend, but not a lover. my personal life has been a shambles because everything has had to be sacrificed for the music. but then there were reports in the late 70s of your drug overdose... running out of money... i had enough money, i was never homeless, i have never been homeless. that is a lie. you also seem to have had a lot of problems with the music industry. racqueteers... for god‘s sake, they do not pay you. i still have 60 albums being pirated in england right now! nobody‘s actually paying you for these? no! i have a great lawyer from san francisco, and he goes after as many pirates as he can, but you cannot catch them all. they run the streets too fast. i‘ve been pirated all over the world. when you get up on a stage now, and they said this in 1987, when you were at ronnie scott‘s jazz club in london... oh, yes. they said "you get the whole nina simone when she‘s up on stage. "you get her mood, you get the monologue, you get the music." is this the whole nina simone experience? that is true. and you keep waiting until you‘re ready? yeah. why? because i have to be composed, i have to be poised, i have to remember what my first piano teacher told me, "you do not touch that piano until you are ready, and until they are ready to listen to you." you just make them wait. how do you judge that moment? oh, ijudge it from my... .from my head, and from my instincts. and then when it‘s ready, and when you‘re happy and when the crowd‘s happy. when they are ready i play for them. is it always a buzz, is it always a huge kick for you? yes, it‘s always a huge kick. does it get better with the years? yes, it does. do you still enjoy it? oh yes, i enjoyed as much. do you happen to be travelling as much as you did? do you ever get tired? yes, i get very tired. i stay tired. but i don‘t mind being on the road for my music. well, because... oh dear. because it was a record company. you were about to say something else weren‘t you? i dare say it was a record company that stole my albums and did not pay me and they came to switzerland and i said where is my money, they said, we are not going to give you any money. i said, "oh, yes you are." and i got a gun. it was a gun! it wasn‘t a knife, and ifollowed them to a restaurant and i tried to kill him. i missed him and i went back to america. you actually pulled the trigger? 0h... excuse me. yes, idid. and felt better for it? oh, yes. sorry i didn‘t get him! so now we have advertised that side of your life, you say that you are still looking for a lover... people, men, are going to be a bit nervous, aren‘t they? they are very. do you manage to put them out? no. you don‘t try too hard. no. i refuse to cook or to clean. so they have to take you as you are? they have to take me as i am and recognise that i‘m a star as well as a woman, and they have to deal with the two. and they have to treat you properly. absolutely. nina simone, doctor simone, it has been a pleasure having you on the programme. can i say one more thing? i am a doctor, do you know why? you are a doctor of humanities. yes. from malcolm x university in chicago. and a doctor of music. from ambrose college in ambrose massachusetts. ok, thank you for setting the record straight. it‘s been a great pleasure. hello there, good morning. cooler, cloudy weather is more likely as we head into the easter weekend. there was some sunshine around yesterday. it was quite warm in the sunshine too, that was pontypridd in wales. but further north it was rather grey, threatening skies that we had here in stirling in scotland. and we had this thick cloud across more northern parts of the uk, and that‘s slowly pushing its way southwards. we‘ve got a westerly breeze, though, and that is dragging in cloud even across england and wales, so temperatures here won‘t be as low as they were last night. the rain, though, is further north and that will push its way slowly southwards during wednesday. but we‘ll start with some rain in the central belt. wetter in glasgow than it will be in edinburgh, some rain for northern ireland, some heavy rain perhaps over the hills of cumbria and into lancashire and by 9am a little rain for liverpool and manchester. that rain here is on a weather front but as it heads southwards, it‘s a familiar story, the weather front weakens considerably. little or no rain on it. to the south we‘re looking at one or two showers but some brightness, some early sunshine before it clouds over more during the afternoon. some sunny spells following behind that weather front across the north and a few showers around. quite a cool breeze blowing across scotland will take the edge off those numbers. ten in glasgow, 16 in london, not far off what we had on tuesday. that weather front then, no rain on it really to help the gardens at all. it clears away. then behind that on thursday we‘re into a cooler north—westerly airflow. it could be quite a chilly start for many eastern areas of the uk, especially in the countryside first thing. but some sunshine in the morning. the tendency is, though, for things to cloud over more and more from the west with gradual moistening up of the air to bring us a few showers. but a lot of places will be dry further south and east. and those temperatures, ten to 111 degrees. some sunshine and a few showers for scotland on good friday. something drier and a little bit warmer towards the south—east but in between a cloudier zone where we‘re more likely to catch a few showers from time to time. and that really sums up the easter weekend. it‘s certainly not going to be a washout by any means and when the sun comes out, as it will do, it will actually feel quite warm at this time of year of course. and we could, on saturday, have some sunshine and a few showers. we‘re getting chains of depressions, areas of low pressure pushing our way. so for easter day it could be more persistent rain across northern parts of the uk, and then between two areas of low pressure, easter monday may bring us something a little bit drier and brighter. now, i‘m going to leave you with this temperature comparison. easter day, ten to 15 degrees, about average for this time of year. quite a bit cooler, though, than we had on christmas day. a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name‘s mike embley. our top stories: one of germany‘s top football teams is deliberately targeted by three explosions, police say they found a letter at the scene. he told a press briefing adolf hitler didn‘t use chemical weapons. the backlash forces sean spicer into an apology and yet more misstatements. with concerns that moscow is hardening it‘s support for syria, the us secretary of state prepares for crisis talks with the russian government. and deep under the atlantic ocean, the richest deposits of rare minerals anywhere on earth. scientists marvel at the wonders inside an undersea mountain.