Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Her music stressed freedom, sexual freedom, and freedom of expression. She died in a car accident in New York City on December 14, 1937. She leaves behind a husband, two daughters, a son, and a stepdaughter.
About Bessie Smith in brief
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, her parents died when Smith was young. She and her siblings survived by performing on street corners. Her successful recording career with Columbia Records began in the 1920s, but her performing career was cut short by a car crash that killed her at age 43. She is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and was a major influence on fellow blues singers, as well as jazz vocalists. She became the highest-paid black entertainer of her day and began traveling in her own 72-foot-long railroad-long car. She was nicknamed the \”Empress of the Blues, but the national press soon upgraded her title to ‘Queen of the blues’ Smith’s music stressed freedom, sexual freedom, and freedom of expression. She died in a car accident in New York City on December 14, 1937. She leaves behind a husband, two daughters, a son, and a stepdaughter. She also leaves a daughter and a son-in-law who are still living in the U.S. and traveling the world. She had no children of her own, but she had three half-siblings who were also musicians. She never had a husband or children of their own, and she never had any children of any kind of wealth or wealth. She left behind a daughter, two sons, a stepson, two step-grandchildren, and one step-great-granddaughter who are now living in New Jersey and New York.
Her music is still played today by many of the same people she grew up with, including many descendants of her parents and her step-sisters. She has a son and a daughter-in law who are also musicians, and they have a daughter who is married to a blues legend. Smith had a son who is now in the music industry and has a daughter of his own, who is also a blues singer. Her daughter had a daughter with a famous blues singer, Ma Rainey, who was also a friend of Bessie’s. Smith’s son, Clarence, left home in 1904 to join a traveling troupe owned by Moses Stokes. In 1912, Clarence returned to Chattanooga with the Stokes troupe and arranged an audition for his sister with the troupe managers, Lonnie and Cora Fisher. He was hired as a dancer rather than a vocalist since the company already included popular singer Ma Rainy. By 1920, she had established a reputation in the South and along the East Coast. She began forming her own act around 1913, at Atlanta’s \”81 Theater. She also performed in shows on the black-owned Theater Owners Booking Association circuit and would become one of its major attractions. Smith was signed to Columbia Records in 1923 by Frank Walker, a talent agent who had seen her perform years earlier. For most of 1923, her records were issued on Columbia’s regular A-series. Both sides of her first record, “Downhearted Blues,” were issued with her first hits.
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This page is based on the article Bessie Smith published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 21, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
