Judith Tick s Becoming Ella Fitzgerald corrects much of the public’s understanding of the First Lady of Song, necessarily expanding the cultural memory.
The Influential Women in Music series continues with two soulful artists.
Born in Newport News, Virginia in 1917,
Ella Fitzgerald was an American jazz singer who has gone by various names such as Queen of Jazz and First Lady of Song. Fitzgerald was known to have a diverse voice as she was able to move between singing “sultry ballads, sweet jazz and imitate every instrument in the orchestra.” Ella Fitzgerald won 13 Grammys and would sell over 40 million records. Fitzgerald released her first album
Ella Sings Gershwin, now called
Pure Ella, in 1950. In 1987, she received the National Medal of Art by President