Bessie Smith was a popular and successful American blues singer in the 1920s and 30s, known as the “Empress of the Blues”. She began street singing at a young age to support her family and later became a dancer and singer. She signed with Columbia Records in 1923 and continued to tour with other blues greats. Her last recordings were in 1933, and she died in 1937. Her style influenced later singers like Billie Holiday and Janis Joplin.
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer of the 1920s and 30s. She was the most popular and successful female blues singer of her time and influenced many subsequent singers. In her heyday, Bessie Smith was christened the “Empress of the Blues” and became the highest-paid African-American entertainer of her era.
Bessie Smith was born in July 1892 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the thirteenth child of Baptist pastor William Smith. By age nine, Bessie Smith had lost both of her parents and her older sister, Viola, had taken over the household. Bessie began street singing, accompanied by her brother Andrew on guitar, as a way to raise money for her family. In 1912, her brother Clarence arranged for her to audition for a company to which she belonged, and Bessie Smith was hired as a dancer. In later years, she added singing to her public performances.
After making a name for herself through her performances throughout the American South and East Coast, Bessie Smith was signed by Columbia Records in 1923. She continued to tour throughout her career and performed with many greats of the blues genre , including Louis Armstrong. Although the Depression and the rise of the cinema heralded the demise of vaudeville, Bessie Smith continued to tour. In 1929, she appeared in an unsuccessful Broadway musical titled Pansy as well as a short film, St. Louis Blues.
Bessie Smith’s last recordings date from 1933, when producer John Henry Hammond commissioned her to perform four songs on Columbia’s Okeh label. These recordings were more swing-inspired than Smith’s earlier work, and while popular today, they did not inspire Hammond to keep Bessie Smith on the label. Bessie Smith died on September 26, 1937 of complications following a serious automobile accident. Her recently remastered recordings remain classics of the blues genre, and her style has inspired later singers such as Billie Holiday and Janis Joplin.
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