Bessie Smith (April 15,
1894 – September 26, 1937) was a blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz
Age.
Nicknamed the
"Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer
of the 1920s and 1930s.
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.
Born in Chattanooga,
Tennessee, Smith was young when her parents died, and she and her six siblings
survived by performing on street corners. She began touring and performed in a
group that included Ma Rainey, and then went out on her own.
Her successful recording
career with Columbia Records began in 1923, but her performing career was cut
short by a car crash that killed her at the age of 43.