Billie Holiday Essay

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The Life of a Legendary Woman Struggle, Pain, Talented, and Trials are the best words to describe the life of one specific legendary woman. A woman who encountered many obstacles from childhood until death. Although destined for greatness, this woman had a mind of her own and took advantage of it. During a period of her lifetime, she was talented, famous, and awarded for her achievements. I present to you, Ms. “Billie” Holiday. Where did the amazing life of Ms. Holiday begin? Here’s her story. On April 17, 1915 Billie Holiday was born as Eleanora Fagan Holiday to Mr. Clarence Holiday and Ms. Sadie Fagan. “Billie” took her mother’s last name as her middle name. Her parents were very young when she was born. Her father was only fifteen and her mother was only thirteen at the time when “Billie” was born. “Billie” couldn’t stand the name Eleanora. In fact, she hated it. She especially despised the nickname Nora. Her father used to call her Bill because she was such a tomboy growing up. She didn’t mind it, although she wanted a prettier name than Bill. She loved the actress Billie Dove, so she decided to go with the name “Billie” and that’s the beginning of her name, Billie Holiday. As a young child, Billie used to work for Caucasians around the neighborhood, and scrub the white marble steps with Bon Ami soap. She was paid five cents for doing that. By the time she was a teenager her pay increased from five cents to sixteen cents. Around this time, Mr. Louis Armstrong and Ms. Bessie Smith were popular. Billie loved listening to their music. They were two musicians who later influenced her music. Growing up, Billie lived with her grand-parents, cousin, and her mother’s older married half-sister. This is when it all began. When Billie was young, her dad wanted to be a musician, so he left to pursue his dream. Her mother also left her to move to New York and

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