I remember my mother would play her records when we would clean up on Saturday mornings. It was a time I looked forward to she had such a different sound about her. I loved it. You know, she made me to sing, not many people can do that?- This was part of a conversation I had with one of my Great-Aunt Grace, who grew up listening to he late Lady Day. Still, even after her death more than thirty years ago, Billie Holiday remains one of the most influential Jazz/Swing artists of all time. However her life was not all glitz and glamour that one would think a person with such a title should possess. With little education and no money she had a dream and was determined to get there, no mater what. Her experiences, achievements and downfalls contributed to her success. .
Unfortunately, family was not the best support system for Eleanora Fagan, the name given to her at birth. Her grandfather was a slave in Virginia and hard work was nothing new to her mother. Sally Fagan never married Billie's father Clarence Holiday. He was a guitar player in a band with Fletcher Henderson, and because of this gig he abandoned the family to become a performer. Too young to know the difference, her mother left her with any member of the family she could; regardless if they were responsible or not (Gyurko). "When Billie was just six years old her grand mother past away and her family blamed Billie's behavior for the death,"" (Gyurko). Feeling lost and unwanted she left the family and was raped at the age of ten. Later Billie started working at a brothel cleaning and doing "old jobs- (Gyurko).
To begin, in 1927 Billie moved to New Jersey and then to New York City. She had no money, no job, no family no where to go, so she turned to prostituting. It was all she knew. With the equivalent of a 6th grade education this meant easy fast money. She was recruited to work in a brothel where she would scrub floors and turn tricks.
