View source for Billie Holiday

{{short description|American jazz singer (1915–1959)}}
{{about|the singer|her self-titled 1954 album|Billie Holiday (album){{!}}''Billie Holiday'' (album)|the 1959 album originally titled ''Billie Holiday''|Last Recording{{!}}''Last Recording''}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Billie Holiday
| image              = Portrait of Billie Holiday and Mister, Downbeat, New York, N.Y., ca. Feb. 1947 (LOC, 5020400274, cropped).jpg
| caption            = Holiday with her dog, Mister {{circa|1947}}
| birth_name         = Eleanora Fagan
| alias              = Lady Day
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1915|4|7}}
| birth_place        = [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1959|7|17|1915|4|7}}
| death_place        = [[New York City]], U.S.
| resting_place      = [[Saint Raymond's Cemetery (Bronx)|Saint Raymond's Cemetery]]
| father             = [[Clarence Holiday|Clarence Halliday]]
| spouses            = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Jimmy Monroe|1941|1947|end=div.}}
* {{marriage|Joe Guy|1951|1957|end=div.}}
* {{marriage|Louis McKay|1957}}
}}
| occupation         = Singer
| signature          = File:Billie Holiday signature.svg
| years_active       = {{circa|1930}}–1959
| module             = {{Infobox musical artist|embed=yes
 | genre = {{hlist|[[Jazz]]|[[Swing music|swing]]|[[blues]]|[[traditional pop]]}}
 | discography = [[Billie Holiday discography]]
 | label = {{hlist|[[Brunswick Records|Brunswick]]|[[Vocalion Records|Vocalion]]|[[Okeh Records|Okeh]]|[[Bluebird Records|Bluebird]]|[[Commodore Records|Commodore]]|[[Capitol Records|Capitol]]|[[Decca Records|Decca]]|[[Aladdin Records|Aladdin]]|[[Verve Records|Verve]]|[[Columbia Records|Columbia]]|[[MGM Records|MGM]]}}
| website = {{Official URL}}
}}
}}

'''Billie Holiday''' (born '''Eleanora Fagan'''; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American [[jazz]] and [[swing music]] singer. Nicknamed "'''Lady Day'''" by her friend and music partner, [[Lester Young]], Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and [[pop music|pop]] singing. Her vocal style, strongly influenced by jazz instrumentalists, inspired a new way of manipulating [[Phrase (music)|phrasing]] and [[tempo]]. Holiday was known for her vocal delivery and [[Jazz improvisation|improvisational]] skills.{{Sfn|Ostendorf, May|1993|pp=201–202}}

After a turbulent childhood, Holiday began singing in nightclubs in [[Harlem]] where she was heard by producer [[John Henry Hammond|John Hammond]], who liked her voice. Holiday signed a recording contract with [[Brunswick Records|Brunswick]] in 1935. Her collaboration with [[Teddy Wilson]] produced the hit "[[What a Little Moonlight Can Do]]", which became a [[jazz standard]]. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Holiday had mainstream success on labels such as [[Columbia Records|Columbia]] and [[Decca Records|Decca]]. However, by the late 1940s, she was beset with legal troubles and drug abuse. After a short prison sentence, Holiday performed a sold-out concert at [[Carnegie Hall]].
She was a successful concert performer throughout the 1950s, with two further sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall. Because of personal struggles and an altered voice, Holiday's final recordings were met with mixed reaction, but were mild commercial successes. Her final album, ''[[Lady in Satin]]'', was released in 1958. Holiday died of cirrhosis and heart failure on July 17, 1959, at age 44.

Holiday won four [[Grammy Awards]], all of them posthumously, for Best Historical Album. She was inducted into the [[Grammy Hall of Fame]] and the [[National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame]]. In 2000, Holiday was also inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] as an early influence; their website states that "Billie Holiday changed jazz forever".{{Sfn|Rock & Roll Hall of Fame}} She was named one of the [[50 Great Voices]] by [[NPR]] and was ranked fourth on the ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' list of "200 Greatest Singers of All Time" (2023).<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=January 1, 2023 |title=The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-singers-all-time-1234642307/ |access-date=August 19, 2023 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref> Several films about Holiday's life have been released, most recently ''[[The United States vs. Billie Holiday]]'' (2021).

==Life and career==
===1915–1929: Childhood===
Eleanora Fagan{{Sfn|Clarke,|2002|p=9}}{{Sfn|"About Billie Holiday,"|2002}} was born on April 7, 1915,{{Sfn|"Billie Holiday Biography"}} in [[Philadelphia]] to [[African Americans|African American]] unwed teenage couple [[Clarence Holiday|Clarence Halliday]] and Sarah Julia "Sadie" Fagan (née Harris). Her mother moved to Philadelphia at age 19,{{Sfn|O'Meally,|1991|p=64}} after being evicted from her parents' home in the [[Sandtown-Winchester, Baltimore|Sandtown-Winchester]] neighborhood of [[Baltimore]], Maryland, for becoming pregnant. With no support from her parents, Sarah made arrangements with her older married half-sister, Eva Miller, for Holiday to stay with her in Baltimore. 

Shortly after Holiday was born, her father abandoned his family to pursue a career as a jazz banjo player and guitarist.{{Sfn|Dufour,|1999|pp=40–42}} Some historians have disputed Holiday's paternity, as a copy of her birth certificate in the Baltimore archives lists her father as "Frank DeViese". Other historians consider this an anomaly, probably inserted by a hospital or government worker.{{Sfn|Clarke,|2002|p=xiii}} DeViese lived in Philadelphia, and Sadie, then known by her maiden name Harris, may have met him through her work. Harris married Philip Gough in 1920,<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 2, 2014 |title=Billie Holiday Biography |url=https://www.biography.com/musician/billie-holiday |access-date=November 30, 2022 |website=Biography |publisher=A&E Television Networks |quote="Sadie married Philip Gough in 1920..."}}</ref> but the marriage only lasted a few years.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Randolph |first=Elizabeth |date=March 22, 2021 |title=Who Gave Billie Holiday the Nickname Lady Day? |url=https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/gave-billie-holiday-nickname-lady-day.html/ |access-date=May 21, 2024 |website=Showbiz Cheat Sheet |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[File:Billie Holiday 1917.jpg|thumb|upright|Holiday, aged two, in 1917|left]]
Holiday grew up in Baltimore and had a very difficult childhood. Her mother often took what were then known as "transportation jobs", serving on passenger railroads.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|pp=21–22}} Holiday was raised largely by Eva Miller's mother-in-law, Martha Miller, and suffered from her mother's absences and being in others' care for her first decade of life.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|pp=18–23}} Holiday's autobiography, ''[[Lady Sings the Blues (book)|Lady Sings the Blues]]'', published in 1956, is inconsistent regarding details of her early life, but much was confirmed by [[Stuart Nicholson (jazz historian)|Stuart Nicholson]] in his 1995 biography of the singer.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

At the age of nine Holiday attended school at [[Saint Frances Academy (Baltimore)|Saint Frances Academy]] in Baltimore, frequently skipping classes, which resulted in her being brought before the juvenile court at age nine.{{Sfn|Ripatrazone, August 14,|2018}} She was sent to the House of the Good Shepherd, a Catholic [[reform school]] for girls, where the nuns locked her in a room with a dead girl overnight as punishment for misbehavior. The experience traumatized her, and for years she would "dream about it and wake up hollering and screaming".<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Meares |first1=Hadley |title=Good Morning Heartache: The Life and Blues of Billie Holiday |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/02/billie-holiday-biography-lady-sings-the-blues |magazine=Vanity Fair |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207153954/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/02/billie-holiday-biography-lady-sings-the-blues |archive-date=December 7, 2021 |date=February 8, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="book1956">{{cite book |last1=Holiday |last2=Dufty |title=Lady Sings the Blues |date=1956 |page=118 |quote=They had no more business putting me in that Catholic institution. . . . For years I used to dream about it and wake up hollering and screaming. My God, it's terrible what something like this does to you. It takes years and years to get over it; it haunts you and haunts you.}}</ref> After nine months, she was released on October 3, 1925, to her mother. Sadie had opened a restaurant, the East Side Grill, and they worked long hours there. She dropped out of school at age 11.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|pp=22–24}}

On December 24, 1926, Harris came home to discover a neighbor attempting to rape Holiday. She successfully fought back, and he was arrested. Officials sent Holiday back to the House of the Good Shepherd under [[protective custody]] as a state witness in the rape case.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|p=25}} Holiday was released in February 1927, when she was nearly 12. She found a job running errands in a [[brothel]],{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|p=27}} and she scrubbed [[Culture of Baltimore#Marble steps|marble steps]] as well as kitchen and bathroom floors of neighborhood homes.{{Sfn|Eff,|2013|p=63}} Around this time, she first heard the records of [[Louis Armstrong]] and [[Bessie Smith]]. In particular, Holiday cited "[[West End Blues]]" as an intriguing influence, pointing specifically to the [[scat singing|scat]] section duet with the clarinet as her favorite part.{{Sfn|Brothers,|2014|p=298}} By the end of 1928, Holiday's mother moved to Harlem, New York, again leaving Holiday with Martha Miller.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|p=31}} By early 1929, Holiday had joined her mother in Harlem.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

===1929–1935: Early career===
As a young teenager, Holiday started singing in nightclubs in Harlem. She took her professional pseudonym from [[Billie Dove]], an actress she admired, and Clarence Halliday, her father.{{Sfn|Holiday & Dufty,|1956|p=13}} At the outset of her career, she spelled her last name "Halliday", her father's birth surname, but eventually changed it to "Holiday", his performing name. The young singer teamed up with a neighbor, [[tenor saxophone]] player Kenneth Hollan. They were a team from 1929 to 1931, performing at clubs such as the Grey Dawn, [[Pod's and Jerry's]] on [[133rd Street (Manhattan)|133rd Street]], and the Brooklyn Elks Club.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|pp=35–37}}{{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=32}} [[Benny Goodman]] recalled hearing Holiday in 1931 at the Bright Spot. As her reputation grew, she played in many clubs, including the Mexico's and the [[The Harlem Alhambra|Alhambra]] Bar and Grill, where she met Charles Linton, a vocalist who later worked with [[Chick Webb]]. It was also during this period that she connected with her father, who was playing in [[Fletcher Henderson]]'s band.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|pp=35–39}}

Late in 1932, 17-year-old Holiday replaced the singer [[Monette Moore]] at Covan's, a club on West 132nd Street. Producer [[John Hammond (record producer)|John Hammond]], who loved Moore's singing and had come to hear her, first heard Holiday there in early 1933.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|p=39}} Hammond arranged for Holiday to make her recording debut at age 18, in November 1933, with Benny Goodman. She recorded two songs: "[[Your Mother's Son-In-Law]]" and "[[Riffin' the Scotch]]", the latter being her first hit. "Son-in-Law" sold 300 copies, and "Riffin' the Scotch", released on November 11, sold 5,000 copies. Hammond was impressed by Holiday's singing style and said of her, "Her singing almost changed my music tastes and my musical life, because she was the first girl singer I'd come across who actually sang like an improvising jazz genius." Hammond compared Holiday favorably to Armstrong and said she had a good sense of lyric content at a young age.{{Sfn|Gourse,|2000|p=73}}

In 1935, Holiday had a small role as a woman abused by her lover in [[Duke Ellington]]'s [[musical short]] film ''[[Symphony in Black|Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life]]''. She sang "Saddest Tale" in her scene.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|p=56}}

===1935–1938: Recordings with Teddy Wilson===
In 1935, Holiday was signed to Brunswick by John Hammond to record pop tunes with pianist [[Teddy Wilson]] in the swing style for the growing [[jukebox]] trade. They were allowed to [[Musical improvisation|improvise]] on the material. Holiday's improvisation of melody to fit the emotion was highly skillful. Their first collaboration included "[[What a Little Moonlight Can Do]]" and "[[Miss Brown to You]]". "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" has been deemed her "claim to fame".{{Sfn|Bush,|2003|pp=239–240}} Brunswick did not favor the recording session because producers wanted Holiday to sound more like [[Cleo Brown]]. However, after "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" was successful, the company began considering Holiday an artist in her own right.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|p=65}} She began recording under her own name a year later for [[Vocalion Records|Vocalion]] in sessions produced by Hammond and [[Bernie Hanighen]].{{Sfn|Novaes, "The Composers"}} Hammond said the Wilson-Holiday records from 1935 to 1938 were a great asset to Brunswick. According to Hammond, Brunswick was broke and unable to record many jazz tunes. Wilson, Holiday, Young, and other musicians came into the studio without written arrangements, reducing the recording cost. Brunswick paid Holiday a flat fee rather than [[royalties]], which saved the company money. "[[I Cried for You]]" sold 15,000 copies, which Hammond called "a giant hit for Brunswick.... Most records that made money sold around three to four thousand."{{Sfn|Gourse,|2000|pp=73–74}}

Another frequent accompanist was tenor saxophonist [[Lester Young]], who had been a boarder at her mother's house in 1934 and with whom Holiday had a rapport. Young said, "I think you can hear that on some of the old records, you know. Some time I'd sit down and listen to 'em myself, and it sound like two of the same voices&nbsp;... or the same mind, or something like that."{{Sfn|Sheldon,|2011|pp=334–350}} Young nicknamed her "Lady Day", and she called him "Prez".<ref name="ladysingstheblues1956book">{{cite book |last1=Holiday |first1=Billie |last2=Dufty |first2=William |title=Lady Sings the Blues |date=1956}}</ref>

===1937–1938: Working for Count Basie and Artie Shaw===
In late 1937, Holiday had a brief stint as a big-band vocalist with [[Count Basie]].{{Sfn|Walker, November|2002}} The traveling conditions of the band were often poor; they performed many one-nighters in clubs, moving from city to city with little stability. Holiday chose the songs she sang and had a hand in the arrangements, choosing to portray her developing persona of a woman unlucky in love. Her tunes included "I Must Have That Man", "Travelin' All Alone", "[[I Can't Get Started]]", and "[[Summertime (George Gershwin song)|Summertime]]", a hit for Holiday in 1936, originating in [[George Gershwin]]'s ''[[Porgy and Bess]]'' the year before. Basie became used to Holiday's heavy involvement in the band. He said, "When she rehearsed with the band, it was really just a matter of getting her tunes like she wanted them, because she knew how she wanted to sound and you couldn't tell her what to do."{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|pp=93–94}} Some of the songs Holiday performed with Basie were recorded. "I Can't Get Started", "[[They Can't Take That Away from Me]]", and "Swing It Brother Swing" are all commercially available.{{Sfn|Novaes, "Live Songs,"|1937}} Holiday was unable to record in the studio with Basie, but she included many of his musicians in her recording sessions with Teddy Wilson.

Holiday found herself in direct competition with the popular singer [[Ella Fitzgerald]]. The two later became friends.{{Sfn|Gourse,|2000|p=40}} Fitzgerald was the vocalist for the Chick Webb Band, which was in competition with the Basie band. On January 16, 1938, the same day that Benny Goodman performed [[The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert|his legendary Carnegie Hall jazz concert]], the Basie and Webb bands had a battle at the [[Savoy Ballroom]]. Webb and Fitzgerald were declared winners by ''[[Metronome (magazine)|Metronome]]'' magazine, while ''[[DownBeat]]'' magazine pronounced Holiday and Basie the winners. Fitzgerald won a straw poll of the audience by a three-to-one margin.

By February 1938, Holiday was no longer singing for Basie. Various reasons have been given for why she was fired. [[Jimmy Rushing]], Basie's male vocalist, called her unprofessional. According to [[All Music Guide]], Holiday was fired for being "temperamental and unreliable". She complained of low pay and poor working conditions and may have refused to sing the songs requested of her or change her style.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|pp=96–97}} Holiday was hired by [[Artie Shaw]] a month after being fired from the Count Basie Band. This association placed her among the first black women to work with a white orchestra, an unusual arrangement at that time. This was also the first time a black female singer employed full-time toured the [[Racial segregation in the United States|segregated]] U.S. South with a white bandleader. When Holiday faced racism, Shaw would often stick up for his vocalist. In her autobiography, Holiday describes an incident in which she was not permitted to sit on the bandstand with other vocalists because of racist policies. Shaw said to her, "I want you on the band stand like [[Helen Forrest]], [[Tony Pastor (bandleader)|Tony Pastor]] and everyone else."{{Sfn|Holiday & Dufty,|1956|p=80}} When touring the South, Holiday would sometimes be heckled by members of the audience. In [[Louisville, Kentucky]], a man called her a "nigger wench" and requested she sing another song. Holiday lost her temper and had to be escorted off the stage.{{Sfn|Gourse,|2000|pp=103–104}}

By March 1938, Shaw and Holiday had been broadcast on New York City's powerful radio station WABC (the original WABC, now [[WCBS (AM)|WCBS]]). Because of their success, they were given an extra time slot to broadcast in April, which increased their exposure. The ''[[New York Amsterdam News]]'' reviewed the broadcasts and reported an improvement in Holiday's performance. ''Metronome'' reported that the addition of Holiday to Shaw's band put it in the "top brackets". Holiday could not sing as often during Shaw's shows as she could in Basie's; the repertoire was more instrumental, with fewer vocals. Shaw was also pressured to hire a white singer, Nita Bradley, with whom Holiday did not get along but had to share a bandstand. In May 1938, Shaw won band battles against [[Tommy Dorsey]] and [[Red Norvo]], with the audience favoring Holiday. Although Shaw admired Holiday's singing in his band, saying she had a "remarkable ear" and a "remarkable sense of time", her tenure with the band was nearing an end.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|pp=100–107}} 

In November 1938, Holiday was asked to use the service elevator at the [[Hotel Lincoln (New York City)|Lincoln Hotel]] in New York City, instead of the one used by hotel guests, because white patrons of the hotels complained. This may have been the last straw for her. She left the band shortly after. Holiday spoke about the incident weeks later, saying, "I was never allowed to visit the bar or the dining room as did other members of the band ... [and] I was made to leave and enter through the kitchen." There are no surviving live recordings of Holiday with Shaw's band. Because she was under contract to a different record label and possibly because of her race, Holiday was able to make only one record with Shaw, "Any Old Time". However, Shaw played clarinet on four songs she recorded in New York on July 10, 1936: "Did I Remember?", "No Regrets", "Summertime" and "[[Billie's Blues]]".

By the late 1930s, Holiday had toured with Count Basie and Artie Shaw, scored a string of radio and retail hits with Teddy Wilson, and became an established artist in the recording industry. Her songs "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" and "[[Easy Living (song)|Easy Living]]" were imitated by singers across America and were quickly becoming [[jazz standard]]s.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|p=70}} In September 1938, Holiday's single "[[I'm Gonna Lock My Heart (And Throw Away the Key)|I'm Gonna Lock My Heart]]" ranked sixth as the most-played song that month. Her record label, [[Vocalion]], listed the single as its fourth-best seller for the same month, and it peaked at number 2 on the pop charts, according to Joel Whitburn's ''Pop Memories: 1890–1954''.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|p=102}}

===1939: "Strange Fruit" and Commodore Records===
Holiday was in the middle of recording for [[Columbia Records|Columbia]] in the late 1930s when she was introduced to "[[Strange Fruit]]", a song by [[Abel Meeropol]] based on his poem about [[lynching]]. Meeropol, a Jewish schoolteacher from [[the Bronx]], used the pseudonym "Lewis Allan" for the poem, which was set to music and performed at teachers' union meetings.{{Sfn|Margolick,|2000 |pp=25–27}} It was eventually heard by Barney Josephson, the proprietor of [[Café Society]], an integrated nightclub in [[Greenwich Village]], who introduced it to Holiday. She performed it at the club in 1939,{{Sfn|Margolick,|2000 |pp=40–46}} with some trepidation, fearing possible retaliation. She later said that the imagery of the song reminded her of her father's death and that this played a role in her resistance to performing it.

For her performance of "Strange Fruit" at the Café Society, she had waiters silence the crowd when the song began. During the song's long introduction, the lights dimmed and all movement had to cease. As Holiday began singing, only a small spotlight illuminated her face. On the final note, all lights went out, and when they came back on, Holiday was gone.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|p=113}} Holiday said her father, [[Clarence Holiday]], was denied medical treatment for a fatal lung disorder because of racial prejudice, and that singing "Strange Fruit" reminded her of the incident. "It reminds me of how Pop died, but I have to keep singing it, not only because people ask for it, but because twenty years after Pop died the things that killed him are still happening in the South", she wrote in her autobiography.{{Sfn|Holiday & Dufty,|1956|p=95}} When Holiday's producers at Columbia found the subject matter too sensitive, [[Milt Gabler]] agreed to record it for his [[Commodore Records]] label on April 20, 1939. "Strange Fruit" remained in her repertoire for 20 years. She recorded it again for [[Verve Records|Verve]]. The Commodore release did not get any airplay, but the controversial song sold well, though Gabler attributed that mostly to the record's other side, "[[Fine and Mellow]]", which was a jukebox hit.{{Sfn|Clarke,|2002|p=169}} "The version I recorded for Commodore", Holiday said of "Strange Fruit", "became my biggest-selling record".{{Sfn|Holiday & Dufty,|1956|p=95}} "Strange Fruit" was the equivalent of a top-twenty hit in the 1930s, selling a million records.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moore |first=Edwin |date=September 18, 2010 |title=Strange Fruit is still a song for today |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/sep/18/strange-fruit-song-today |access-date=April 29, 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Holiday's popularity increased after "Strange Fruit". She received a mention in [[Time (magazine)|''Time'']] magazine.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|p=115}} "I open Café Society as an unknown", Holiday said. "I left two years later as a star. I needed the prestige and publicity all right, but you can't pay rent with it." She soon demanded a raise from her manager, [[Joe Glaser]].{{Sfn|Holiday & Dufty,|1956|pp=104–105}} Holiday returned to Commodore in 1944, recording songs she made with Teddy Wilson in the 1930s, including "[[I Cover the Waterfront (song)|I Cover the Waterfront]]", "[[I'll Get By (As Long as I Have You)|I'll Get By]]", and "[[He's Funny That Way]]". She also recorded new songs that were popular at the time, including, "[[My Old Flame]]", "How Am I to Know?", "I'm Yours", and "[[I'll Be Seeing You (song)|I'll Be Seeing You]]", a number one hit for [[Bing Crosby]]. She also recorded her version of "[[Embraceable You]]", which was inducted into the [[Grammy Hall of Fame]] in 2005.

===1940–1947: Commercial success===
Holiday's mother Sadie, nicknamed "The Duchess", opened a restaurant called Mom Holiday's. She used money from her daughter while playing dice with members of the Count Basie band, with whom she toured in the late 1930s. "It kept Mom busy and happy and stopped her from worrying and watching over me", Holiday said. Fagan began borrowing large amounts from Holiday to support the restaurant. Holiday obliged but soon fell on hard times herself. "I needed some money one night and I knew Mom was sure to have some", she said. "So I walked in the restaurant like a stockholder and asked. Mom turned me down flat. She wouldn't give me a cent." The two argued, and Holiday shouted angrily, "God bless the child that's got his own", and stormed out. With [[Arthur Herzog Jr.]], a pianist, she wrote a song based on the lyric, "[[God Bless the Child (Billie Holiday song)|God Bless the Child]]", and added music.{{Sfn|Holiday & Dufty,|1956|pp=100–101}} "God Bless the Child" became Holiday's most popular and most covered record. It reached number 25 on the charts in 1941 and was third in ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''{{'s}} songs of the year, selling over a million records.{{Sfn|''Tsort.info'', "Billie Holiday"}}{{Sfn|''Jazzstandards.com,'' "1940s"}} In 1976, the song was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame |title=GRAMMY Hall Of Fame |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626200735/https://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame |archive-date=June 26, 2015 |website=Grammy.org |access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref> Herzog claimed Holiday contributed only a few lines to the lyrics. He said she came up with the line "God bless the child" from a dinner conversation the two had had.{{Sfn|Indiana Public Media, March 4,|2006}}

On June 12, 1942, in Los Angeles, Holiday recorded "[[Trav'lin' Light (song)|Trav'lin Light]]" with [[Paul Whiteman]] for a new label, [[Capitol Records]]. Because she was under contract to Columbia, she used the pseudonym "Lady Day".{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|p=130}} The song reached number 23 on the pop charts and number one on the [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|R&B charts]], then called the Harlem Hit Parade.{{Sfn|"Harlem Hit Parade",|1942–1943}} On October 11, 1943, ''Life'' magazine wrote, "She has the most distinctive style of any popular vocalist, [and] is imitated by other vocalists."{{Sfn|''Life'', October 11,|1943|p=121}}

Milt Gabler, in addition to owning Commodore Records, became an [[Artists and repertoire|A&R]] man for [[Decca Records]]. He signed Holiday to Decca on August 7, 1944, when she was 29.{{Sfn|Novaes, "Studio Songs,"|1944}} Her first Decca recording was "[[Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)|Lover Man]]" (number 16 Pop, number 5 R&B), one of her biggest hits. The success and distribution of the song made Holiday a staple in the pop community, leading to solo concerts, rare for jazz singers in the late 1940s. Gabler said, "I made Billie a real pop singer. That was right in her. Billie loved those songs."{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|p=150}} Jimmy Davis and [[Ram Ramirez|Roger "Ram" Ramirez]], the song's writers, had tried to interest Holiday in the song.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|p=122}} In 1943, a flamboyant male [[Torch song|torch singer]], Willie Dukes, began singing "Lover Man" on [[52nd Street (Manhattan)|52nd Street]].{{Sfn|Shaw,|1971|p=290}} Because of his success, Holiday added it to her shows. The record's flip side was "[[No More (1944 song)|No More]]", one of her favorites.{{Sfn|Novaes, "Studio Songs,"|1944}} Holiday asked Gabler for [[String section|strings]] on the recording. Such arrangements were associated with [[Frank Sinatra]] and Ella Fitzgerald. "I went on my knees to him", Holiday said. "I didn't want to do it with the ordinary six pieces. I begged Milt and told him I had to have strings behind me."{{Sfn|Holiday & Dufty,|1956|p=114}} On October 4, 1944, Holiday entered the studio to record "Lover Man", saw the string ensemble and walked out. The musical director, [[Salvador Camarata|Toots Camarata]], said Holiday was overwhelmed with joy.{{Sfn|''Jazzstandards.com,'' "Lover Man"}} She may also have wanted strings to avoid comparisons between her commercially successful early work with Teddy Wilson and everything produced afterwards. Her 1930s recordings with Wilson used a small jazz combo; recordings for Decca often involved strings.{{Sfn|''Jazzstandards.com,'' "Lover Man"}} A month later, in November, Holiday returned to Decca to record "[[That Ole Devil Called Love]]", "Big Stuff", and "[[Don't Explain (song)|Don't Explain]]". She wrote "Don't Explain" after she caught her husband, Jimmy Monroe, with lipstick on his collar.{{Sfn|Alagna,|2003|p=61}}

Holiday did not make any more records until August 1945, when she recorded "Don't Explain" for a second time, changing the lyrics "I know you raise Cain" to "Just say you'll remain" and changing "You mixed with some dame" to "What is there to gain?" Other songs recorded were "Big Stuff", "[[What Is This Thing Called Love?]]", and "You Better Go Now". Ella Fitzgerald named "You Better Go Now" her favorite recording of Holiday's.{{Sfn|Novaes, "Studio Songs,"|1945}} "Big Stuff" and "Don't Explain" were recorded again but with additional strings and a [[viola]]. In 1946, Holiday recorded "[[Good Morning Heartache]]". Although the song failed to chart, she sang it in live performances; three live recordings are known.{{Sfn|Novaes, "Live Songs,"|1935}}

[[File:Billie Holiday and Mister, New York, N.Y., ca. June 1946 (William P. Gottlieb 04271).jpg|thumb|left|Holiday and her dog Mister, New York, {{circa|1946}}]]
In September 1946, Holiday began her only major film, ''[[New Orleans (1947 film)|New Orleans]]'', in which she starred opposite Louis Armstrong and [[Woody Herman]]. Plagued by racism and [[McCarthyism]], producer [[Jules Levey]] and script writer [[Herbert Biberman]] were pressed to lessen Holiday's and Armstrong's roles to avoid the impression that black people created jazz. The attempts failed because in 1947 Biberman was listed as one of the [[Hollywood blacklist|Hollywood Ten]] and sent to jail.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|pp=152–155}} Several scenes were deleted from the film. "They had taken miles of footage of music and scenes", Holiday said, but "none of it was left in the picture. And very damn little of me. I know I wore a white dress for a number I did... and that was cut out of the picture."{{Sfn|Holiday & Dufty,|1956|pp=136–140}} She recorded "The Blues Are Brewin'" for the film's soundtrack. Other songs included in the movie are "[[Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?]]" and "Farewell to Storyville". Holiday's drug addictions were a problem on the set. She earned more than one thousand dollars per week from club ventures but spent most of it on [[heroin]]. Her lover, [[Joe Guy (musician)|Joe Guy]], traveled to Hollywood while Holiday was filming and supplied her with drugs. Guy was banned from the set when he was found there by Holiday's manager, Joe Glaser.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|pp=152–157}}

By the late 1940s, Holiday had begun recording a number of slow, sentimental ballads. ''Metronome'' expressed its concerns in 1946 about "Good Morning Heartache", saying, "there's a danger that Billie's present formula will wear thin, but up to now it's wearing well."{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|p=113}} The ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'' reported of a concert in 1946 that her performance had little variation in melody and no change in tempo.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|p=151}}

===1947–1952: Legal issues and Carnegie Hall concert===
By 1947, Holiday was at her commercial peak, having made $250,000 in the three previous years.{{Sfn|Holiday & Dufty,|1956|pp=147–149}} She was ranked second in the ''DownBeat'' poll for 1946 and 1947, her highest ranking in that poll.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|p=155}} She was ranked fifth in ''Billboard''{{'}}s annual college poll of "girl singers" on July 6, 1947 ([[Jo Stafford]] was first). In 1946, Holiday won the ''Metronome'' magazine popularity poll.{{Sfn|Chilton,|1975|pp=92–93}}

[[File:Billie Holiday mug shot.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Mug shot]] of Holiday after being arrested in 1947]]

On May 16, 1947, Holiday was arrested for possession of [[narcotic]]s in her New York apartment. On May 27, she was in court. "It was called 'The United States of America versus Billie Holiday'. And that's just the way it felt", she recalled.{{Sfn|Holiday & Dufty,|1956|p=146}} During the trial, she heard that her lawyer would not come to the trial to represent her. "In plain English, that meant no one in the world was interested in looking out for me," she said. Dehydrated and unable to hold down food, she pleaded guilty and asked to be sent to the hospital. The [[district attorney]] spoke in her defense, saying, "If your honor please, this is a case of a drug addict, but more serious, however, than most of our cases, Miss Holiday is a professional entertainer and among the higher rank as far as income was concerned." She was sentenced to [[Federal Prison Camp, Alderson|Alderson Federal Prison Camp]] in West Virginia. The drug possession conviction caused her to lose her [[New York City Cabaret Card]], preventing her from working anywhere that sold alcohol; thereafter, she performed in concert venues and theaters.{{Sfn|Lahr, December 20,|2018|p=}}

According to writer and journalist [[Johann Hari]], the [[Federal Bureau of Narcotics]]–under [[Harry J. Anslinger]]–had been targeting Holiday since at least 1939, when she started to perform "[[Strange Fruit]]".{{Sfn|Hari, January 17,|2015}} However, according to author [[Lewis Porter]], there was no federal campaign to stop Holiday from singing the song. Porter writes that Johann Hari's 2015 book, ''Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs'', is where the allegation that Holiday was targeted for singing "Strange Fruit" originated and that this claim did not appear anywhere else before that.{{Sfn|''JazzTimes'', October 7,|2021}} Narcotics police went to her hospital room, claiming they had found heroin in her bedroom. A grand jury was summoned to indict her. Holiday was subsequently arrested, handcuffed to her bed, and placed under police guard.{{Sfn|Hari, January 17,|2015}}

[[File:Billie Holiday, Downbeat, New York, N.Y., ca. Feb. 1947 (William P. Gottlieb 04251).jpg|thumb|left|Holiday at the [[Downbeat Jazz Club]], New York,{{Sfn|''Guardian'', May 3,|2015|p=}} {{nowrap|c. February 1947}}]]

Holiday was released early (on March 16, 1948) because of good behavior. When she arrived at [[Newark, New Jersey|Newark]], her pianist [[Bobby Tucker]] and her dog Mister were waiting. The dog leaped at Holiday, knocking off her hat, and tackling her to the ground. "He began lapping me and loving me like crazy", she said. A woman thought the dog was attacking Holiday. She screamed, a crowd gathered, and reporters arrived. "I might just as well have wheeled into [[Pennsylvania Station (Newark)|Penn Station]] and had a quiet little get-together with the [[Associated Press]], [[United Press]], and [[International News Service]]", she said.{{Sfn|Holiday & Dufty,|1956|p=165}}

Ed Fishman (who had competed with [[Joe Glaser]] to be Holiday's manager) thought of a comeback concert at Carnegie Hall. Holiday hesitated, unsure audiences would accept her after the arrest. She gave in and agreed to appear. On March 27, 1948, Holiday played Carnegie Hall to a sold-out crowd. Two thousand seven hundred tickets were sold in advance, a record at the time for the venue. Her popularity was unusual because she did not have a current hit record.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|pp=165–167}} Her last record to reach the charts was "Lover Man" in 1945. Holiday sang 32 songs at the Carnegie concert by her count, including [[Cole Porter]]'s "[[Night and Day (song)|Night and Day]]" and her 1930s hit, "Strange Fruit". During the show, someone sent her a box of [[gardenia]]s. "My old trademark", Holiday said. "I took them out of box and fastened them smack to the side of my head without even looking twice." There was a hatpin in the gardenias and Holiday unknowingly stuck it into the side of her head. "I didn't feel anything until the blood started rushing down in my eyes and ears", she said. After the third curtain call, she passed out.{{Sfn|Holiday & Dufty,|1956|pp=168–169}}

On April 27, 1948, Bob Sylvester and her promoter Al Wilde arranged a Broadway show for her. Titled ''Holiday on Broadway'', it sold out. "The regular music critics and drama critics came and treated us like we were legit", she said. But it closed after three weeks.{{Sfn|Holiday & Dufty,|1956|pp=172–173}}

Holiday was arrested again on January 22, 1949, in her room at the Hotel Mark Twain in [[San Francisco]] by [[George Hunter White]].{{Sfn|''Reuters'', July 4,|2008}} Holiday said she began using hard drugs in the early 1940s. She married trombonist Jimmy Monroe on August 25, 1941. While still married, she became involved with trumpeter Joe Guy who was also her drug dealer. She divorced Monroe in 1947 and also split with Guy.

[[File:Billie Holiday, 1949.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Holiday in court over a contract dispute, late 1949]]

In October 1949, Holiday recorded "[[Crazy He Calls Me]]", which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2010. Gabler said the hit was her most successful recording for Decca after "Lover Man". The charts of the 1940s did not list songs outside the top 30, making it impossible to recognize minor hits. By the late 1940s, despite her popularity and concert power, her singles were infrequently played on radio, perhaps because of her reputation.{{Sfn|Clarke,|2002|p=327}}

In 1948, Holiday played at the Ebony Club, which was against the law. Her manager, John Levy, was convinced he could get her card back and allowed her to open without one. "I opened scared", Holiday said, "[I was] expecting the cops to come in any chorus and carry me off. But nothing happened. I was a huge success."{{Sfn|Holiday & Dufty,|1956|p=175}}

Holiday recorded Gershwin's "[[I Loves You, Porgy]]" in 1948. In 1950, Holiday appeared in the [[Universal Pictures|Universal]] short film ''[[Sugar Chile Robinson, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and His Sextet]]'', singing "God Bless the Child" and "Now, Baby or Never".{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|p=181}}

The loss of her cabaret card reduced Holiday's earnings. She had not received proper record royalties until she joined Decca, so her main revenue was club concerts. The problem worsened when Holiday's records went out of print in the 1950s. She seldom received royalties in her later years. In 1958, she received a royalty of only $11.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|pp=167, 229}} Her lawyer in the late 1950s, Earle Warren Zaidins, registered with [[Broadcast Music, Inc.|BMI]] only two songs she had written or co-written, costing her revenue.{{Sfn|Nicholson,|1995|p=215}}

===1952–1959: ''Lady Sings the Blues''===
[[File:Billie Holiday.png|thumb|right|Billie Holiday performing at the [[Storyville (nightclub)|Storyville]] club, Boston, on October 29, 1955. Photo by Mel Levine.]]By the 1950s, Holiday's drug use, drinking, and relationships with abusive men caused her health to deteriorate. She appeared on the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] [[reality television|reality series]] ''The Comeback Story'' to discuss attempts to overcome her addictions.

Holiday first toured Europe in 1954 as part of a [[Leonard Feather]] package. The [[Sweden|Swedish]] [[impresario]] Nils Hellstrom initiated the "Jazz Club U.S.A." (after the Leonard Feather radio show) tour starting in Stockholm in January 1954 and then Germany, Netherlands, Paris and Switzerland. The tour party was Holiday, [[Buddy DeFranco]], Red Norvo, Carl Drinkard, [[Elaine Leighton]] [[:de:Elaine Leighton|(de)]] [[:nl:Elaine Leighton|(nl)]] (1926–2012),{{Sfn|"New Jersey Death Index"}}{{Sfn|Dahl,|1989|pp=76, 92}} [[Sonny Clark]], [[Beryl Booker]], [[Jimmy Raney]] and [[Red Mitchell]]. A recording of a live set in Germany was released as ''Lady Love – Billie Holiday''.{{Sfn|''Lady Love,''|1962}}

Holiday's autobiography, ''[[Lady Sings the Blues (book)|Lady Sings the Blues]]'', was ghostwritten by [[William Dufty]] and published in 1956. Dufty, a ''[[New York Post]]'' writer and editor then married to Holiday's close friend Maely Dufty, wrote the book quickly from a series of conversations with the singer in the Duftys' 93rd Street apartment. He also drew on the work of earlier interviewers and intended to let Holiday tell her story in her own way.{{Sfn|''San Francisco Chronicle'', September 18,|2006|p=G1}} In his 2015 study, ''Billie Holiday: The Musician and the Myth'', [[John Szwed]] argued that ''Lady Sings the Blues'' is a generally accurate account of her life, but that co-writer Dufty was forced to water down or suppress material by the threat of legal action. According to the reviewer [[Richard Brody]], "Szwed traces the stories of two important relationships that are missing from the book—with [[Charles Laughton]], in the 1930s, and with [[Tallulah Bankhead]], in the late 1940s—and of one relationship that's sharply diminished in the book, her affair with [[Orson Welles]] around the time of '[[Citizen Kane]]'".{{Sfn|''New Yorker'', April 3,|2015|p=}}{{Sfn|Szwed,|2015|p=}} The film version of the book was released in 1972, with [[Diana Ross]] playing the role of Holiday.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AFI{{!}}Catalog |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54377-LADY-SINGSTHEBLUES?sid=8ec639d0-9877-4587-9b46-950baba4111e&sr=0.17779854&cp=1&pos=0 |access-date=October 21, 2023 |website=catalog.afi.com}}</ref>

To accompany her autobiography, Holiday released the LP ''[[Lady Sings the Blues (Billie Holiday album)|Lady Sings the Blues]]'' in June 1956. The album featured four new tracks, "[[Lady Sings the Blues (song)|Lady Sings the Blues]]", "[[Too Marvelous for Words]]", "[[Willow Weep for Me]]", and "[[I Thought About You]]", and eight new recordings of her biggest hits to date. The re-recordings included "Trav'lin' Light", "Strange Fruit", and "God Bless the Child".{{Sfn|Novaes, "Studio Discography"}} A review of the album was published by ''Billboard'' magazine on December 22, 1956, calling it a worthy musical complement to her autobiography. "Holiday is in good voice now", wrote the reviewer, "and these new readings will be much appreciated by her following". "Strange Fruit" and "God Bless the Child" were called classics, and "Good Morning Heartache", another reissued track on the LP, was also noted favorably.{{Sfn|''Billboard'', December 22,|1956|p=26}}

On November 10, 1956, Holiday performed two concerts before packed audiences at Carnegie Hall. Live recordings of the second Carnegie Hall concert were released on a Verve/[[His Master's Voice (British record label)|His Master's Voice]] album in the UK in late 1961 called ''[[The Essential Billie Holiday: Carnegie Hall Concert Recorded Live|The Essential Billie Holiday]]''. The 13 tracks included on this album featured her own songs "I Love My Man", "Don't Explain" and "[[Fine and Mellow (song)|Fine and Mellow]]", together with other songs closely associated with her, including "[[Body and Soul (1930 song)|Body and Soul]]", "[[My Man]]", and "Lady Sings the Blues" (her lyrics accompanied a tune by pianist [[Herbie Nichols]]).{{Sfn|''Essential Billie Holiday'',|1989}} The liner notes for this album were written partly by Gilbert Millstein of ''[[The New York Times]]'', who, according to these notes, served as narrator of the Carnegie Hall concerts. Interspersed among Holiday's songs, Millstein read aloud four lengthy passages from her autobiography, ''Lady Sings the Blues''. He later wrote:

{{blockquote|The narration began with the ironic account of her birth in Baltimore – 'Mom and Pop were just a couple of kids when they got married. He was eighteen, she was sixteen, and I was three' – and ended, very nearly shyly, with her hope for love and a long life with 'my man' at her side. It was evident, even then, that Miss Holiday was ill. I had known her casually over the years and I was shocked at her physical weakness. Her rehearsal had been desultory; her voice sounded tinny and trailed off; her body sagged tiredly. But I will not forget the metamorphosis that night. The lights went down, the musicians began to play and the narration began. Miss Holiday stepped from between the curtains, into the white spotlight awaiting her, wearing a white evening gown and white gardenias in her black hair. She was erect and beautiful; poised and smiling. And when the first section of narration was ended, she sang – with strength undiminished – with all of the art that was hers. I was very much moved. In the darkness, my face burned and my eyes. I recall only one thing. I smiled."{{Sfn|''Essential Billie Holiday'',|1989}}}}

The critic [[Nat Hentoff]] of ''DownBeat'' magazine, who attended the Carnegie Hall concert, wrote the remainder of the sleeve notes on the 1961 album. He wrote of Holiday's performance:

{{blockquote|Throughout the night, Billie was in superior form to what had sometimes been the case in the last years of her life. Not only was there assurance of phrasing and intonation; but there was also an outgoing warmth, a palpable eagerness to reach and touch the audience. And there was mocking wit. A smile was often lightly evident on her lips and her eyes as if, for once, she could accept the fact that there were people who did dig her. The beat flowed in her uniquely sinuous, supple way of moving the story along; the words became her own experiences; and coursing through it all was Lady's sound – a texture simultaneously steel-edged and yet soft inside; a voice that was almost unbearably wise in disillusion and yet still childlike, again at the centre. The audience was hers from before she sang, greeting her and saying good-bye with heavy, loving applause. And at one time, the musicians too applauded. It was a night when Billie was on top, undeniably the best and most honest jazz singer alive.}}

Her performance of "Fine and Mellow" on [[CBS]]'s ''[[The Sound of Jazz]]'' program is memorable for her interplay with her long-time friend [[Lester Young]]. Both were less than two years from death. Young died in March 1959. Holiday wanted to sing at his funeral, but her request was denied. Also in 1957, she sang as a headliner with [[Dinah Washington]] and others in ''Jazz Under the Stars'', a summer concert series that took place at the Wollman Memorial Theater in New York City's [[Central Park]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Flicklives |url=https://www.flicklives.com/index.php?pg=230 |access-date=October 21, 2023 |website=www.flicklives.com}}</ref>

When Holiday returned to Europe almost five years later, in 1959, she made one of her last television appearances for [[Granada television|Granada]] television's British Cabaret show, ''Chelsea at Nine,'' in London. The show taped what is believed to be the only existing filmed version of Holiday singing "Strange Fruit".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Collins |first=Alexis |date=July 17, 2018 |title=Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit Is Both A Testament to the Power of Dissent And An Illustration of Government Hostility to Black Political Power |url=https://www.rightsanddissent.org/news/billie-holidays-strange-fruit-is-both-a-testament-to-the-power-of-dissent-and-an-illustration-of-government-hostility-to-black-political-power/ |access-date=October 21, 2023 |website=Defending Rights & Dissent |language=en-US}}</ref> Her final studio recordings were made for [[MGM Records]] in 1959, with lush backing from [[Ray Ellis]] and his Orchestra, who had also accompanied her on the Columbia album ''[[Lady in Satin]]'' the previous year (see below). The MGM sessions were released posthumously on a self-titled album, later retitled and re-released as ''[[Last Recording]]''.

On March 28, 1957, Holiday married Louis McKay, a [[Organized crime|mob]] enforcer. McKay, like most of the men in her life, was abusive.{{Sfn|''National Post'', May 17,|2005|pp=AL1–AL2}} They were separated at the time of her death, but McKay had plans to start a chain of Billie Holiday vocal studios, on the model of the [[Arthur Murray]] dance schools. Holiday was childfree, but she had two godchildren: singer [[Lorraine Feather|Billie Lorraine Feather]] (the daughter of Leonard Feather) and [[Bevan Dufty]] (the son of William Dufty).{{Sfn|''San Francisco Chronicle'', September 18,|2006|p=G1}}

==Illness and death==
Health complications which resulted from her years of drug and alcohol abuse would ultimate lead to Holiday's death.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/why-were-drawn-to-billie-holidays-story|title=Why we're drawn to Billie Holiday's story|first=Lizz|last=Bolaji|publisher=PBS News|date=February 24, 2021|accessdate=December 31, 2025}}</ref> By early 1959, Holiday was diagnosed with [[cirrhosis]]. Although she had initially stopped drinking on her doctor's orders, it was not long before Holiday relapsed.{{Sfn|Feather,|1972|p=82}} By May 1959, she had lost {{convert|20|lb|kg}}. Holiday's manager Joe Glaser, jazz critic Leonard Feather, photojournalist Allan Morrison, and the singer's own friends all tried in vain to persuade her to go to a hospital.{{Sfn|Feather,|1972|p=83}} On May 31, 1959, Holiday was finally taken to [[Metropolitan Hospital]] in New York for treatment of both liver and [[heart disease]]. While in the hospital, special agents of the [[Federal Bureau of Narcotics]] (FBN) came to her hospital room and placed her under house arrest, handcuffing her to the bed, for narcotics possession.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yf2741A_BkYC&dq=billie+holiday+arrested+hospital&pg=PA106 | title=A to Z of American Women in the Performing Arts | isbn=978-1-4381-0790-5 | last1=Sonneborn | first1=Liz | date=May 14, 2014 | publisher=Infobase }}</ref> On July 15, Holiday received [[last rites]].{{Sfn|White,|1987|p=110}} Two days later, she died at age 44 at 3:10 a.m., of [[pulmonary edema]] and [[heart failure]] caused by cirrhosis.<ref>{{cite web | title=Billie Holiday Biography | work=Biography.com | date=November 12, 2021 | page=3 | url=http://www.biography.com/people/billie-holiday-9341902?page=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207064657/https://www.biography.com/musicians/billie-holiday |archive-date=February 7, 2023}}</ref>{{Sfn|''New York Times'', July 18,|1959|p=15}}{{Sfn|''New York Times Magazine'', December 24,|1972|pp=8–9, 18–19}}

In her final years, Holiday had been progressively swindled out of her earnings by McKay and she died with $0.70 in the bank. The story of her burial plot and how it was managed by her estranged husband was documented on [[NPR]] in 2012. Her funeral was held on July 21, 1959, at the [[St. Paul the Apostle Church (Manhattan)|Church of St. Paul the Apostle]] in Manhattan. She was buried at [[Saint Raymond's Cemetery]] in the Bronx. [[Michael P. Grace II|Michael P. Grace ll]], a songwriter and theater producer based in [[Manhattan]], paid for the funeral.{{Sfn|NPR, ''Morning Edition'', July 17,|2012}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael P. Grace (Producer, Lyricist, Composer) |url=https://playbill.com/person/michael-grace-vault-0000006941}}</ref>

Gilbert Millstein of ''The New York Times'', who was the announcer at Holiday's 1956 Carnegie Hall concerts and wrote parts of the sleeve notes for the album ''The Essential Billie Holiday'', described her death in these sleeve notes, dated 1961:

{{blockquote|Billie Holiday died in Metropolitan Hospital, New York, on Friday, July 17, 1959, in the bed in which she had been arrested for illegal possession of narcotics a little more than a month before, as she lay mortally ill; in the room from which a police guard had been removed – by court order – only a few hours before her death. She had been strikingly beautiful, but her talent was wasted. The worms of every kind of excess – drugs were only one – had eaten her. The likelihood exists that among the last thoughts of this cynical, sentimental, profane, generous and greatly talented woman of 44 was the belief that she was to be arraigned the following morning. She would have been, eventually, although possibly not that quickly. In any case, she removed herself finally from the jurisdiction of any court here below.{{Sfn|''Essential Billie Holiday'',|1989}}{{rp|Millstein's liner notes}} }} When Holiday died, ''The New York Times'' published a short obituary on page 15 without a [[byline]]. She left an estate of $1,000 ($11,046.91 in 2025), and her best recordings from the 1930s were mostly out of print.

Holiday's public stature grew in the following years. In 1961, she was voted to the [[DownBeat#Hall of Fame|Down Beat Hall Of Fame]], and soon after Columbia reissued nearly one hundred of her early records. In 1972, [[Diana Ross]]'s portrayal of Holiday in ''Lady Sings the Blues'' was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe.<ref name="45th Academy Awards">{{cite web |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1973 |title=The 45th Academy Awards (1973) Nominees and Winners |access-date=October 7, 2025 |website=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |date=October 5, 2014 }}</ref><ref name="HFPA 1973">{{cite web|url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/lady-sings-blues |title=Lady Sings the Blues – Golden Globes |website=[[HFPA]] |access-date=October 7, 2025 |date=1973}}</ref> Holiday was posthumously nominated for 23 Grammy awards.{{Sfn|NPR, ''All Things Considered'', April 7,|2015}}

Singer [[Adelaide Hall]] made a secret visit to Holiday's bedside at the Metropolitan Hospital, on or around June 12, 1959. Hall's spoken account of her visit was captured on tape by the journalist Max Jones in 1988.<ref>Sound and Moving Image Catalogue: Adelaide Hall interviewed by Max Jones, 1988: Part 1 and Part 2: duration 2 hours 36 minutes: [[British Library]], London:
http://sami.bl.uk/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/0/0/5?searchdata1=CKEY5192620</ref> Hall's long-time friend, Iain Cameron Williams, and author of Hall's biography, also had direct knowledge of the visit. However, he refrained from releasing the information as he only had Hall's one-to-one spoken account and no further backup. In July 2022, after finding transcripts of Max Jones's tape, Williams wrote an article for ''The Syncopated Times'' about Hall's secret visit.<ref>{{cite web|title=Adelaide Hall's secret visit to Billie Holiday's bedside before her death |first= Iain Cameron |last=Williams|date=July 31, 2022|access-date= October 16, 2022|url=https://syncopatedtimes.com/adelaide-halls-secret-visit-to-billie-holidays-bedside-before-her-death/}}</ref>
George Jacobs claims Sinatra also visited Holiday on her death bed, and promised to supply her with the heroin she desperately wanted.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jacobs |first=George |title=Mr S |publisher=Harper Entertainment |year=2001 |pages=151 |language=English}}</ref>

==Artistry==
[[File:Billie Holiday 5.jpg|alt=Billie at the Club Bali, Washington with Al Dunn (drums), and Bobby Tucker (piano)|thumb|Holiday performing at the Club Bali, Washington, with Al Dunn (drums), and [[Bobby Tucker]] (piano) in 1948]]
Holiday's vocal delivery made her performances instantly recognizable throughout her career. Her improvisational prowess compensated for her lack of formal musical education. Holiday stated that she had always wanted her voice to sound like an instrument, and some of her influences included trumpeter [[Louis Armstrong]] and singer [[Bessie Smith]].{{Sfn|Kuehl & Schocket,|1973|p=}} Early in her career, she was said to have had her accompanying instrumentalists stop and repeat an improvised line if she believed she could use it for a vocal line.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Schoenberg |first1=Loren |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fytrrs9yLd8C |title=The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Jazz |date=2002 |publisher=Perigee Books |page=118 |isbn=978-0-399-52794-4 |access-date=October 12, 2024}}</ref>

Holiday's last major recording, a 1958 album titled ''Lady in Satin'', features the backing of a 40-piece orchestra conducted and arranged by Ray Ellis. The conductor said of the album in 1997:

{{blockquote|I would say that the most emotional moment was her listening to the playback of "I'm a Fool to Want You". There were tears in her eyes&nbsp;... After we finished the album I went into the control room and listened to all the takes. I must admit I was unhappy with her performance, but I was just listening musically instead of emotionally. It wasn't until I heard the final mix a few weeks later that I realized how great her performance really was.{{Sfn|Sheldon,|2011|p=348}}{{rp|KCSM interview}} }}

[[Frank Sinatra]] was influenced during his youth by Holiday's performances on 52nd Street. He told ''[[Ebony (magazine)|Ebony]]'' magazine in 1958 about her impact:

{{blockquote| With few exceptions, every major pop singer in the US during her generation has been touched in some way by her genius. It is Billie Holiday who was, and still remains, the greatest single musical influence on me. Lady Day is unquestionably the most important influence on American popular singing in the last twenty years.{{Sfn|Clarke,|2002|p=96}}}}

== Scholarly interpretations ==
Several scholars have written about the broader social and political meanings of Holiday’s music. Angela Y. Davis argues that some of Holiday’s performances reflected themes of personal autonomy and emotional independence for Black women. In her book ''Blues Legacies and Black Feminism'', Davis points to songs such as “T’ain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do” as examples of Holiday presenting a narrative voice that challenged expectations about respectability and gender roles.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Davis |first=Angela |title=Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday |date=January 20, 1998 |publisher=Vintage Books}}</ref>

Davis also writes about Holiday’s interpretation of “Strange Fruit,” describing it as one of the earliest and most influential musical statements against racial violence in the United States.<ref name=":1" /> Scholars have noted that Holiday continued to perform the song despite professional and legal pressure, and that her delivery helped bring national attention to the issue of lynching.<ref name="Grove">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Holiday, Billie |encyclopedia=Grove Music Online |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/ |access-date=2024-11-21 |last=Clarke |first=Donald |date=2012}}</ref> These interpretations place Holiday among a longer tradition of African American musical protest and have shaped how later writers understand her artistic and political legacy.

==Legacy==
In the book ''The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Jazz'', jazz historian [[Loren Schoenberg]] asserted that "no one would dispute that Billie Holiday is the definitive Jazz Singer."<ref name=":0" />

Billie Holiday received several [[Esquire (magazine)|''Esquire'' Magazine]] awards during her lifetime. Her posthumous awards also include being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, [[Jazz at Lincoln Center#Hall of Fame|Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame]], [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]], and the [[American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers|ASCAP]] Jazz Wall of Fame. In 1985, a [[statue of Billie Holiday]] was erected in Baltimore; the statue was completed in 1993 with additional panels of images inspired by her seminal song "Strange Fruit". The Billie Holiday Monument is located at [[Pennsylvania Avenue (Baltimore)|Pennsylvania]] and West Lafayette avenues in Baltimore's [[Upton, Baltimore|Upton]] neighborhood.{{Sfn|Baltimore Heritage, April 26,|2018}} Holiday is also featured in a [[Romare Bearden]] mosaic at the [[Upton–Avenue Market station|Upton metro station]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Frost |first1=Julian |title=Baltimore Uproar {{!}} A Masterpiece in our Metro|url=https://explore.baltimoreheritage.org/items/show/704 |website=baltimoreheritage.org |publisher=Baltimore Heritage|date=September 27, 2021 |access-date=November 3, 2024}}</ref> In 2019, [[Chirlane McCray]] announced that New York City would build a statue honoring Holiday near [[Queens Borough Hall]].{{Sfn|''New York Times'', March 7,|2019|p=A19}}

[[Frank O'Hara]]'s poem from 1959,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Perloff |first1=Marjorie | author-link = Marjorie Perloff |title=Reading Frank O'Hara's Lunch Poems After Fifty Years |url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/articles/70187/reading-frank-oharas-lunch-poems-after-fifty-years |website=[[Poetry Foundation]] |date=August 27, 2018 |access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref> "The Day Lady Died",<ref>{{cite web |last1=O'Hara |first1=Frank | author-link = Frank O'Hara|title=The Day Lady Died |url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42657/the-day-lady-died |website=Poetry Foundation |date=August 27, 2018 |access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref> concludes with an impression of Holiday performing at the [[Five Spot Café]] at the end of her career, and the impact of that performance on her listeners.<ref>{{cite web |title=On 'The Day Lady Died' |url=http://maps-legacy.org/poets/m_r/ohara/ladydied.htm |website=Modern American Poetry |access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref> The song "[[Angel of Harlem]]" by Irish rock band [[U2]], released as a single in December 1988, was written as a homage to Holiday.<ref>{{cite web |last=Moore |first=Rick |date=February 2, 2020 |title=Behind the Song: U2, 'Angel of Harlem' |url=https://americansongwriter.com/angel-of-harlem-u-2-behind-the-song/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818125232/https://americansongwriter.com/angel-of-harlem-u-2-behind-the-song/ |archive-date=August 18, 2022 |access-date=August 8, 2023 |website=American Songwriter}}</ref> In 1994, as part of the "Legends of American Music" series, the [[United States Postal Service]] issued commemorative stamps bearing Holiday's image.<ref>{{cite news |title=BRIEFLY : Music: Blues, Jazz Stamps to Debut |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-15-we-38650-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=15 September 1994}}</ref> In 2019, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' created 89 new covers to celebrate women of the year starting from 1920; it chose Holiday for 1939.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ |title=100 Women of the Year |magazine=Time |date=March 5, 2020 |access-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-date=December 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223082517/https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Films and plays about Holiday==
The biographical film ''[[Lady Sings the Blues (film)|Lady Sings the Blues]]'', loosely based on Holiday's autobiography, was released in 1972 and was nominated for five [[Academy Awards]], including [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] for [[Diana Ross]], who also won a [[Golden Globe Award]] for her performance.<ref name="45th Academy Awards" /><ref name="HFPA 1973" /> 

Another film, ''[[The United States vs. Billie Holiday]]'', starred [[Andra Day]] and was released in 2021.{{Sfn|''Def Pen'', July 2,|2020}} It is based on the book ''[[Chasing the Scream]]'' by [[Johann Hari]]. Director [[Lee Daniels]] saw how Holiday was portrayed in the 1972 biopic, and wanted to show her legacy as "a civil rights leader {{nowrap|[ ... ]}} not just a drug addict or a jazz singer".{{Sfn|''Los Angeles Times'', February 27,|2021|p=}} The film also depicts Holiday's [[bisexuality]] and relationship with Tallulah Bankhead.{{Sfn|''Them'', January 12,|2021}} Day was also nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Actress]] but did not win.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 15, 2021 |title=Andra Day nominated for Best Actress Academy Award |url=https://www.warnerrecords.com/news/andra-day-nominated-best-actress-academy-award |access-date=October 13, 2024 |website=www.warnerrecords.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dixon |first=Marcus James |date=April 26, 2021 |title=Real talk: Here's why Andra Day lost the Oscar for Best Actress |url=https://www.goldderby.com/article/2021/andra-day-lost-oscar-best-actress/ |access-date=October 13, 2024 |website=GoldDerby |language=en-US}}</ref> However, she won a [[Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe]] in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Andra Day |url=https://goldenglobes.com/person/andra-day/ |access-date=October 13, 2024 |website=Golden Globes |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Andra Day tearfully accepts Golden Globe as first Black Best Actress winner in 35 years|first=Joey |last=Nolfi |url=https://ew.com/awards/golden-globes/2021-best-actress-movie-drama-winner/ |access-date=October 13, 2024 |website=EW.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Andra Day Tearfully Thanks Billie Holiday After Winning Golden Globe: 'She Transformed Me' |url=https://people.com/movies/golden-globes-2021-andra-day-wins-best-actress-in-a-motion-picture-drama/|first=Dana Rose |last=Falcone |access-date=October 13, 2024 |website=People.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Vary |first=Adam B. |date=March 1, 2021 |title=Andra Day Becomes the Second Black Woman to Win Golden Globe for Best Actress Drama |url=https://variety.com/2021/film/news/andra-day-golden-globes-best-actress-drama-1234916913/ |access-date=October 13, 2024 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>

Holiday is the primary character in the play ''[[Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill]]'', with music by Lanie Robertson. It takes place in [[South Philadelphia]] in March 1959. It premiered in 1986 at the [[Alliance Theatre]] and has been revived several times. A Broadway production starring [[Audra McDonald]] was filmed and broadcast on [[HBO]] in 2016; McDonald received an [[Emmy Award]] nomination.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Audra McDonald |url=https://www.emmys.com/bios/audra-mcdonald |access-date=January 25, 2023 |website=Television Academy |language=en}}</ref> In 2014, she received a [[Tony Award]] win.<ref>{{cite web |title=WINNERS (MCDONALD) |website=Winners and Honorees |publisher=Tony Award Publications |url=https://www.tonyawards.com/winners/?q=mcdonald |access-date=September 23, 2022}}</ref> ''[[Billie (2019 film)|Billie]]'' is a 2019 documentary film based on interviews in the 1970s by [[Linda Lipnack Kuehl]],{{Sfn|Kuehl & Schocket,|1973|p=}} who was researching a book on Holiday that was never completed.

Holiday was portrayed by actress [[Paula Jai Parker]] in the episode "God Bless the Child" of CBS television series ''[[Touched by an Angel]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |website=imdb.com|title=Touched by an Angel {{!}} God Bless the Child {{!}} Full cast & crew |date=November 26, 2000|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0732050/fullcredits/ |access-date=October 7, 2025 }}</ref>

==Discography==
{{Main|Billie Holiday discography}}

[[File:Billie Holiday 1949.jpg|thumb|Holiday, photographed by [[Carl Van Vechten]] in 1949]]
Billie Holiday recorded extensively for four labels: Columbia Records, which issued her recordings on its subsidiary labels [[Brunswick Records]], Vocalion Records and [[OKeh Records]], from 1933 through 1942; Commodore Records in 1939 and 1944; Decca Records from 1944 through 1950; briefly for [[Aladdin Records (US)|Aladdin Records]] in 1951; Verve Records and on its earlier imprint [[Clef Records]] from 1952 through 1957, then again for Columbia Records from 1957 to 1958 and finally for MGM Records in 1959. Many of Holiday's recordings appeared on [[phonograph record|78-rpm records]] prior to the [[LP record|long-playing vinyl record era]], and only Clef, Verve, and Columbia issued albums during her lifetime that were not compilations of previously released material. Many compilations have been issued since her death, as well as comprehensive [[box set]]s and live recordings.{{Sfn|Novaes, "Favorites"}}{{Sfn|''AllMusic''. Discography}}{{Sfn|Millar,|1994|p=}}{{Sfn|Jepsen,|1969|p=}}

===Hit records===
In 1986, [[Joel Whitburn]]'s company Record Research compiled information on the popularity of recordings released from the era predating rock and roll and created pop charts dating back to the beginning of the commercial recording industry. The company's findings were published in the book ''Pop Memories 1890–1954''. Several of Holiday's records are listed on the pop charts Whitburn created.{{sfn|Clarke,|2002|p=74}}

Holiday began her recording career on a high note with her first major release, "Riffin' the Scotch", of which 5,000 copies were sold. It was released under the name "Benny Goodman & His Orchestra" in 1933.{{sfn|Clarke,|2002|p=74}}

Most of Holiday's early successes were released under the name "Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra". During her stay in Wilson's band, Holiday would sing a few bars and then other musicians would have a solo. Wilson, one of the most influential jazz pianists of the swing era,<ref>{{cite web |title= Program : 118 {{!}} Jazz Pianists of the Swing Era |website=The Jim Cullum Riverwalk Jazz Collection |publisher=Stanford University |url=https://rwjazz.stanford.edu/program/jazz-pianists-swing-era |access-date=October 7, 2025}}</ref> accompanied Holiday more than any other musician. He and Holiday issued 95 recordings together.{{Sfn|Novaes, "Musicians"}}

In July 1936, Holiday began releasing sides under her own name. These songs were released under the band name "Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra".{{Sfn|Novaes, "Studio Songs,"|1936}} Most noteworthy, the popular jazz standard "Summertime" sold well and was listed on the pop charts of the time at number 12, the first time the jazz standard charted. Only [[Billy Stewart]]'s R&B version of "Summertime" reached a higher chart placement than Holiday's, charting at number 10 thirty years later in 1966.{{Sfn|''Tsort.info'', "Summertime"}}

Holiday had 16 best-selling songs in 1937, making the year her most commercially successful.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}} It was in this year that Holiday scored her sole number one hit as a featured vocalist on the available pop charts of the 1930s, "Carelessly".<ref>{{cite web |title=Title -> "C" -> ''Carelessly'' |url=http://ntl.matrix.com.br/pfilho/html/top1/ |website=#1 Songs of 1930–1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100616002911/http://ntl.matrix.com.br/pfilho/html/top1/ |archive-date=June 16, 2010 |access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref> The hit "[[I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm]]", was also recorded by [[Ray Noble]], [[Glen Gray]] and [[Fred Astaire]], whose rendering was a bestseller for weeks.{{citation needed|date=September 2022|reason=Previous citations had othing related to 1937, "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm", or any of the artists mentioned.}} Holiday's version ranked 6 on the year-end single chart available for 1937.{{Sfn|''Tsort.info'', "Billie Holiday"}}

In 1939, Holiday recorded her biggest selling record, "Strange Fruit" for Commodore, charting at number 16 on the available pop chart for the 1930s.{{Sfn|Novaes, "Studio Songs,"|1939}}

In 1940, ''Billboard'' began publishing its modern pop charts, which included the [[Billboard Hot 100|Best Selling Retail Records]] chart, the precursor to the Hot 100. None of Holiday's songs placed on the modern pop charts, partly because ''Billboard'' only published the first ten slots of the charts in some issues. Minor hits and independent releases had no way of being spotlighted.

"[[God Bless the Child (Billie Holiday song)|God Bless the Child]]", which went on to sell over a million copies, ranked number 3 on ''Billboard''{{'}}s year-end top songs of 1941.{{Sfn|''Jazzstandards.com,'' "1940s"}}

On October 24, 1942, ''Billboard'' began issuing its R&B charts. Two of Holiday's songs placed on the chart, "Trav'lin' Light" with Paul Whiteman, which topped the chart, and "Lover Man", which reached number 5. "Trav'lin' Light" also reached 18 on ''Billboard''{{'}}s year-end chart.

===Studio LPs===
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
* ''[[Billie Holiday Sings]]'' (1952)
* ''[[An Evening with Billie Holiday]]'' (1953)
* ''[[Billie Holiday (album)|Billie Holiday]]'' (1954)
* ''[[Music for Torching (album)|Music for Torching]]'' (1955)
* ''[[Velvet Mood]]'' (1956)
* ''[[Lady Sings the Blues (Billie Holiday album)|Lady Sings the Blues]]'' (1956)
* ''[[Body and Soul (Billie Holiday album)|Body and Soul]]'' (1957)
* ''[[Songs for Distingué Lovers]]'' (1957)
* ''[[Stay with Me (Billie Holiday album)|Stay with Me]]'' (1958)
* ''[[All or Nothing at All (album)|All or Nothing at All]]'' (1958)
* ''[[Lady in Satin]]'' (1958)
* ''[[Last Recording]]'' (1959)
{{div col end}}

==Filmography==
===Theatrical films===
* 1933: ''[[The Emperor Jones (1933 film)|The Emperor Jones]]'', appeared as an extra
* 1935: ''[[Symphony in Black]]'', short (with [[Duke Ellington]])
* 1947: ''[[New Orleans (1947 film)|New Orleans]]''
* 1950: ''[[Sugar Chile Robinson, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and His Sextet|'Sugar Chile' Robinson, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and His Sextet]]''

===Television appearances===
{|class="sortable wikitable"
|-
! scope=col| Year
! scope=col| Program
! scope=col| Host
! scope=col| Songs
|-
| October 14, 1948
| ''[[We the People (American TV series)|We the People]]''
| Dwight Weist
| Unknown
|-
| 1949
| ''[[Adventures in Jazz]]''
| Fred Robbins
| Unknown
|-
| August 27, 1949
| ''Arlene Francis Show'', NY (1)
| [[Arlene Francis]]
| "[[The Man I Love (song)|The Man I Love]]", "[[All of Me (jazz standard)|All of Me]]", "Lover Man"
|-
| August 27, 1949
| ''Art Ford Show'', NY (1){{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=15}}
| Art Ford
| "Lover Man", "I Cover the Waterfront", two-minute interview, "All of Me"
|-
| August 27, 1949
| ''Eddie Condon's Floor Show'', NY (1){{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=125}}
| [[Eddie Condon]]
| "I Love My Man", "Keeps on Rainin'", "Lover Man"
|-
| September 3, 1949
| ''Eddie Condon's Floor Show'', NY (1){{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=126}}
| Eddie Condon
| "Fine & Mellow", "Porgy", "[[Them There Eyes]]", "I Love My Man"
|-
| October 15, 1949
| ''Art Ford Show'', NY (1)
| Art Ford
| "Them There Eyes", "[[Detour Ahead]]", "Now or Never"
|-
| May 24, 1950
| ''Apollo Theatre Show'', NY (1){{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=132}}
| –
| "You're My Thrill"
|-
| July 25, 1951
| ''Apollo Theatre Show'', NY (1){{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=139}}
| –
| "My Man"
|-
| October 12, 1952
| ''Apollo Theatre Show'', NY (1){{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=149}}
| Count Basie
| "Tenderly"
|-
| October 16, 1953
| ''The Comeback Story'', NY (1){{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=153}}
| [[George Jessel (actor)|George Jessel]]
| Twenty-minute interview, "God Bless the Child"
|-
| February 8, 1955
| ''[[The Tonight Show]]'', NY (1){{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=165}}
| [[Steve Allen]]
| "My Man", "Them There Eyes", "Lover Man"
|-
| February 10, 1956
| ''The Tonight Show'', NY (1){{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=172}}
| Steve Allen
| "Please Don't Talk About Me", two-minute interview, "Ghost of a Chance"
|-
| August 13, 1956
| ''[[Stars of Jazz]]'', LA, CA (2){{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=179}}
| [[Bobby Troup]]
| "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone", "Billie's Blues", "My Man"
|-
| August 29, 1956
| ''NBC Bandstand USA'', NY (1){{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=179}}{{Sfn|Evanier, January 6,|2009}}
| Bert Parks
| "Willow Weep for Me", "[[I Only Have Eyes for You]]", "My Man", "Please Don't Talk About Me"
|-
| October 29, 1956
| ''NBC Bandstand USA'', NY (1){{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=180}}{{Sfn|Evanier, January 6,|2009}}
| Bert Parks
| "Nice Work If You Can Get It", "God Bless the Child", "Please Don't Talk About Me", "Don't Explain"
|-
|November 8, 1956
| ''Night Beat'', NY (1){{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=180}}
| [[Mike Wallace]]
| Fifteen-minute interview
|-
| November 8, 1956
| ''Peacock Alley'', NY (1){{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=180}}
| Tex McCrary
| Twenty-minute interview
|-
| November 8, 1956
| ''The Tonight Show'', NY (1){{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=180}}
| Steve Allen
| "Porgy"
|-
| November 3, 1957
| Live Broadcast from [[Mister Kelly's]], Chicago (1)
| –
| "Good Morning Heartache", "You Better Go Now"
|-
| December 8, 1957
| ''The Seven Lively Arts: The Sound of Jazz'', LA (2){{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=191}}
| –
| "Fine & Mellow"
|-
| April 12, 1958
| ''Club Oasis'', NY (1)
| [[Martha Raye]]
| "You've Changed", "My Man"
|-
| May 26, 1958
| ''Telethon'', NY
| [[Dean Martin]]
| Unknown
|-
| May 29, 1958
| ''[[Jazz Party (TV series)|Art Ford's Jazz Party]]'', WNTA-TV NY{{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=194}}
| Art Ford
| "You've Changed", "I Love My Man", "When Your Lover Has Gone"
|-
| July 10, 1958
| ''Art Ford's Jazz Party'', NY (2){{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=195}}
| Art Ford
| "Foolin' Myself", "It's Easy to Remember", "What a Little Moonlight Can Do"
|-
| July 17, 1958
| ''Art Ford's Jazz Party'', NY (2){{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=195}}
| Art Ford
| "Moanin' Low", "Don't Explain", "When Your Lover Has Gone"
|-
| September 25, 1958
| ''Today Show''{{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=197}}
| [[Dave Garroway]]
| "[[My Funny Valentine]]"
|-
| November 18, 1958
| Mars Club, Music Hall Parade Voyons Un Peu, Paris France (2)
| –
| "I Only Have Eyes for You"
|-
| November 20, 1958
| ''Gilles Margaritis Programme'', Paris France (2)
| Gilles Margaritis
| "Trav'lin' Light"
|-
| November 27, 1958 (Unconfirmed - Possibly December 4)
| ''Art Ford's Jazz Party'', NY{{Sfn|Ford,|1958}}
| Art Ford
| "All of Me", "Good Morning Heartache", "Travelin' Light"
|-
| February 23, 1959
| ''Chelsea at Nine'', London, England (2){{Sfn|Vail,|1996|p=201}}
| Robert Beatty
| "Porgy", "Please Don't Talk About Me", "Strange Fruit"
|}

(1) = Available on audio
(2) = Available on DVD

==See also==
* [[List of awards and nominations received by Billie Holiday]]
* [[List of craters on Venus]]<!-- Please do not remove this link. A crater on Venus is named for Holiday. -->
* [[List of people on the postage stamps of the United States]] <!-- Please do not remove this link. Holiday is in the list. -->
* [[List of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees]] <!-- Please do not remove this link. Holiday is in the list. -->
{{clear}}

== References ==
=== Notes ===
{{Reflist|20em}}

=== Works cited ===
{{hanging indent |text='''Books, journals, magazines, newspapers, and blogs'''}}
<!--the hanging indent helps the layout on mobile apps-->
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
<!--A-->
* {{cite web |ref={{SfnRef|"About Billie Holiday,"|2002}} |date=May 13, 2012 |orig-date=original possibly on or before 2002 |title=About Billie Holiday: Biography |url=https://www.biography.com/musician/billie-holiday |url-status=dead |access-date=March 13, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110209044835/http://www.billieholiday.com/about/biography.htm |archive-date=February 9, 2011 |publisher=CMG Worldwide, Inc. & [[A&E Television Networks, LLC]] {{free access}} |via=[[Wayback Machine]] }}
<div style="margin-left:6em">The date and attribution for this article is unclear; tho' a phrase from it has been published on two earlier dates, 2008 and 2002: "Holiday's unique diction, inimitable phrasing and acute dramatic intensity made her the outstanding jazz singer of her day."</div>
<ol type="i" start="1">
<ol type="a" start="1">
<li> {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Cartwright,|2008|pp=537–539}} |last1=Cartwright |first1=Joan |editor-last1=Davies |editor-first1=Carole Boyce |editor-link1=Carole Boyce Davies |chapter="Holiday, Billie (1915–1959) |chapter-url={{GBurl|nkVxNVvex-sC |p=538 |dq="holiday's unique diction, inimitable phrasing"}} |date=2008 |title=Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora – Origins, Experiences, and Culture. Vol. 1: "A–C" |url={{GBurl|nkVxNVvex-sC |p=538 |dq="holiday's unique diction, inimitable phrasing"}} |publisher=[[ABC-Clio]] |pages=537–539 |via=[[Google Books]] (limited preview) }} ({{cite book |title=''alternate link'' |url={{GBurl|mb6SDKfWftYC |p=538 |dq="holiday's unique diction, inimitable phrasing"}} }}) {{LCCN|2008011880}}</li></ol></ol>
<ol type="i" start="1">
<ol type="a" start="2">
<li> {{cite news |last1=Bennett Banner |last2=Scott |first2=Shana Leinaala |date=April 5, 2002 |title=Black History" – "On This Day in April" – "7 1915 Billie Holiday a.k.a. 'Lady Day{{'-}} |url=https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/2014236904/2002-04-05/ed-1/seq-4/ |type=student newspaper |location=[[Greensboro, North Carolina]] |publisher=[[Bennett College]] |volume=23 |issue=9 |page=4 (cols. 1 & 2, bottom) }} [[LCCN]] {{URL|https://www.loc.gov/item/2014236904/|2014236904}}; {{OCLC|893622585|show=all}}.</li></ol></ol>
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Alagna,|2003|p=61}} |last1=Alagna |first1=Magdalena |date=2003 |title=Billie Holiday |url=https://archive.org/details/billieholidayroc00magd/page/60/mode/2up |series=Series: "Rock & Roll Hall of Famers" |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Rosen Publishing Group]] |page=61 |isbn=9780823936403 |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[Kahle/Austin Foundation]]) }} {{LCCN|2002004540}}; {{ISBN|0-8239-3640-6}}; {{OCLC|1028725008|show=all}}.
* {{cite web |ref={{SfnRef|''AllMusic''. Discography}} |title=Discography" – "Billie Holiday |url={{AllMusic|id=mn0000079016 |tab=discography |pure_url=yes}} |publisher=[[All Media Network]] |access-date=November 13, 2010 }}

<!--B-->
* {{Cite web |ref={{SfnRef|Baltimore Heritage, April 26,|2018}} |last1=Baltimore Heritage |author-link1=Baltimore Heritage |last2=Pousson |first2=Eli |date=April 26, 2018 |orig-year=Last updated on April 29, 2021 |title=Billie Holiday Statue – Monument by James Early Reid on Pennsylvania Avenue |url=https://explore.baltimoreheritage.org/items/show/643 |publisher=baltimoreheritage.org |access-date=October 17, 2019 }}
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|"Harlem Hit Parade",|1942–1943}} |chapter=[[Harlem Hit Parade]]" → "[[Trav'lin' Light (song)|Trav'lin' Light]] |title=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |publisher=[[Paul Whiteman|Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra]], [[Capitol Records|Capitol]] 116. Recorded June 12, 1942, in Los Angeles }}<div style="margin-left:6em">Personnel: Monty Kelly (''né'' Montgomery Lovendale Kelly; 1910–1971), Larry Neill (''né'' Lorentz Neill Orenstein; 1918–2006), Don Waddilove (''né'' William Donald Waddilove) (trumpets); Skip Layton, [[Murray McEachern]] (trombones); Alvy West (''né'' Alvin Weisfeld; 1915–1912), Dan D'Andrea (''né'' Daniel Glorian D'Andrea; 1909–1983) (alto saxes); Lenny Hartman, King Guion (''né'' Earl King Guion; 1907–1973) (tenor sax); Tom Mace (bari sax, bass clarinet); Buddy Weed (''né'' Eugene Harold Weed; 1918–1997) (piano); [[Mike Pingitore]] (guitar, banjo); Harry Azen, Saul Blumenthal, David Newman (violins); [[Artie Shapiro]] (bass); Willie Rodriguez (''né'' William Valentino Rodriguez y Amador; 1918–1966) (drums); Billie Holiday, [[Johnny Mercer]], [[Jack Teagarden]] (vocalist); [[Jimmy Mundy]] (arranger); [[Paul Whiteman]] (director).</div>
<ol type="1" start="1">
<ol type="i" start="1">
<li> No. 2. October 24, 1942, Vol. '''54''' no. 43. [{{GBurl |LQwEAAAAMBAJ |pg=PP1-PT24 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;25]. </li> 
<li> No. 2. October 31, 1942, Vol. '''54''' no. 44. [{{GBurl |FwwEAAAAMBAJ |pg=PP1-PT23 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"paul whiteman" }} p.&nbsp;24]. </li> 
<li> No. 1. November 7, 1942, Vol. '''54''' no. 45. [{{GBurl |GAwEAAAAMBAJ |p=24 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;24]. </li> 
<li> No. 5. November 14, 1942, Vol. '''54''' no. 46. [{{GBurl |NQwEAAAAMBAJ |pg=PT23 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;24]. </li> 
<li> No. 1. November 21, 1942, Vol. '''54''' no. 47. [{{GBurl |EAwEAAAAMBAJ |pg=PT6 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;24]. </li> 
<li> No. 6. November 28, 1942, Vol. '''54''' no. 48. [{{GBurl |OgwEAAAAMBAJ |pg=PT23 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;24]. </li> 
<li> No. 1. December 5, 1942, Vol. '''54''' no. 49. [{{GBurl |OQwEAAAAMBAJ |pg=PT23 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;24]. </li> 
<li> No. 3. December 12, 1942, Vol. '''54''' no. 50. [{{GBurl |ngwEAAAAMBAJ |pg=PT23 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;24]. </li> 
<li> No. 4. December 19, 1942, Vol. '''54''' no. 51. [{{GBurl |kQwEAAAAMBAJ |pg=PT24 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;25]. </li> 
<li> No. 6. December 26, 1942, Vol. '''54''' no. 52. [{{GBurl |ZQwEAAAAMBAJ |pg=PT23 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;25]. </li> 
<li> No. 3. January 2, 1943, Vol. '''55''' no. 1. [{{GBurl |QwwEAAAAMBAJ |pg=PT29 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;30]. </li> 
<li> No. 5. January 9, 1943, Vol. '''55''' no. 2. [{{GBurl |XQwEAAAAMBAJ |p=94 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;30]. </li> 
<li> No. 3. January 16, 1943, Vol. '''55''' no. 3. [{{GBurl |pQwEAAAAMBAJ |pg=PT23 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;24]. </li> 
<li> No. 7. January 23, 1943, Vol. '''55''' no. 4. [{{GBurl |jgwEAAAAMBAJ |pg=PT23 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;24]. </li> 
<li> No. 6. January 30, 1943, Vol. '''55''' no. 5. [{{GBurl |kgwEAAAAMBAJ |pg=PT23 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;24]. </li> 
<li> Not listed. February 6, 1943, Vol. '''55''' no. 6. [{{GBurl |lwwEAAAAMBAJ |pg=PT23 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;24]. </li> 
<li> No. 8. February 13, 1943, Vol. '''55''' no. 7. [{{GBurl |qAwEAAAAMBAJ |pg=PT23 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;24]. </li> 
<li> Not listed. February 20, 1943, Vol. '''55''' no. 8. [{{GBurl |mgwEAAAAMBAJ |pg=PT23 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;24]. </li> 
<li> No. 10. February 27, 1943, Vol. '''55''' no. 9. [{{GBurl |lAwEAAAAMBAJ |p=24 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;24]. </li> 
<li> No. 9. March 6, 1943, Vol. '''55''' no. 10. [{{GBurl |QQwEAAAAMBAJ |pg=PT23 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;24]. </li> 
<li> N/A. March 13, 1943, Vol. '''55''' no. 11. [p.&nbsp;]. </li> 
<li> N/A. March 20, 1943, Vol. '''55''' no. 12. [p.&nbsp;]. </li> 
<li> No. 8. March 27, 1943, Vol. '''55''' no. 13. [{{GBurl |PAwEAAAAMBAJ |p=1903 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;24]. </li> 
<li> N/A. April 3, 1943, Vol. '''55''' no. 14. [p.&nbsp;]. </li> 
<li> No. 7. April 10, 1943, Vol. '''55''' no. 15. [{{GBurl |bwwEAAAAMBAJ |pg=PT23 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;24]. </li> 
<li> No. 6. April 17, 1943, Vol. '''55''' no. 16. [{{GBurl |XgwEAAAAMBAJ |pg=PT21 |dq="harlem hit parade"+"trav'lin light" }} p.&nbsp;22]. </li> 
</ol></ol>

* {{cite magazine |ref={{SfnRef|''Billboard'', December 22,|1956|p=26}} |last1=Billboard |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |date=December 22, 1956 |title=Review Spotlight on {{nowrap| ... }}" "Jazz Albums" ''"Lady Sings the Blues'' |url={{GBurl|hAoEAAAAMBAJ |p=26 |dq="lady sings the blues"}} |volume=68 |issue=1 |page=26 |access-date=May 7, 2015 |via=[[Google Books]] }}
* {{cite web |ref={{SfnRef|"Billie Holiday Biography"}} |title=Billie Holiday Biography |website=[[Biography.com]] |url=http://www.biography.com/articles/Billie-Holiday-9341902 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090712074554/http://www.biography.com/articles/Billie-Holiday-9341902 |archive-date=July 12, 2009 }}<div style="margin-left:6em">The article was also published in the following book → {{cite book <!--xxx|ref={{SfnRef|||p=}}xxx--> |last1=Shaw |first1=Charles E. |date=2011 |chapter=Chapter 4: Musicians/Singers: Billie Holiday (1915–1959) |title=The Untold Stories of Excellence – From a Life of Despair and Uncertainty to One That Offers Hope and a New Beginning |chapter-url={{GBurl|CcJL93JgiPMC|p=160}} |location=[[Bloomington, Indiana]] |publisher=[[Xlibris Corporation]] |pages=160–163 |via=[[Google Books]] (limited preview)}} {{ISBN|978-1-4628-8835-1}} (hardcover), {{ISBN|978-1-4628-8836-8}} (softcover), {{ISBN|978-1-4628-4907-9}} (e-book); [[Scribd]] {{URL|https://www.scribd.com/book/524244331|524244331}}.</div>
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Brothers,|2014|p=298}} |last1=Brothers |first1=Thomas David |author-link1=Thomas Brothers |date=2014 |title=Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism |url=https://archive.org/details/louisarmstrongma0000brot/page/298/mode/2up |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=[[W.W. Norton & Company]] |pages=298 |isbn=9780393065824 |via=[[Internet Archive]] }} {{LCCN|2013037726}}; {{ISBN|978-0-3930-6582-4}}; {{OCLC|858940268|show=all}}.
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Bush,|2003|pp=239–240}} |last1=Bush |first1=John |chapter=Billie Holiday (Eleanora Fagan Gough) |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidetob0000unse/page/238/mode/2up |title=All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues |year=2003 |url=https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidetob0000unse/page/238/mode/2up |url-access=registration |edition=3rd |publisher=[[All Media Guide]] & [[Backbeat Books]] |pages=239–240 |isbn=9780879307363 |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[Kahle/Austin Foundation]]) }} {{LCCN|2003040408}}; {{ISBN|0-8793-0736-6}}.<div style="margin-left:6em">Online version → {{cite web <!--xxx|ref={{SfnRef|Bush||p=}}xxx--> |title=Billie Holiday: Biography & History |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/billie-holiday-mn0000079016/biography |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=February 24, 2016}}</div>

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* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Chilton,|1975|pp=92–93}} |last1=Chilton |first1=John |author-link1=John Chilton |date=1989 |orig-date=1987, 1983, 1978, 1977, 1975 |title=Billie's Blues: The Billie Holiday Story, 1933–1959 |url=https://archive.org/details/billiesbluesbill00chilt/page/92/mode/2up?q=metronome |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Da Capo Press]] |isbn=9780306803635 |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[ARChive of Contemporary Music ]]) }} {{LCCN|75008837}}, {{LCCN|89011779}}; {{ISBN|0-3068-0363-1}}; {{OCLC|1257108|show=all}}.
* {{Cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Clarke,|2002|p=}} |last1=Clarke |first1=Donald |date=2002 |orig-date=2009, 2000, 1998, 1995, 1994 |author-link=Donald Clarke (writer) |title=Billie Holiday: Wishing on the Moon |url=https://archive.org/details/billieholidaywis0000clar/page/n3/mode/2up |url-access=registration |edition=First [[Da Capo Press]] |publisher=Hachette Books |location=[[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] |isbn=9780306811364 |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[Arcadia Fund]]) }} {{LCCN|94008881}}; {{ISBN|0-6708-3771-7}}; {{ISBN|0-3068-1136-7|978-0-3068-1136-4}}; {{OCLC|30036926|show=all}}.

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* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Dahl,|1989|pp=76, 92}} |last1=Dahl |first1=Linda |date=1989 |orig-date=1884 |title=Stormy Weather: The Music and Lives of a Century of Jazzwomen |url={{GBurl|Sq4eXS-IbngC|p=76 |dq="elaine leighton"}} |publisher= |pages=76, 92 |via=[[Google Books]] (limited preview) }} {{LCCN|83019456}}, {{LCCN|8912352}}; {{ISBN|0-8791-0128-8|978-0-8791-0128-2}}; {{OCLC|19888394|show=all}}.
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Davis,|1998|p=}} |last1=Davis |first1=Angela Y. |author-link1=Angela Davis |date=1998 |title=Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday |url=https://archive.org/details/blueslegaciesbla00davi/page/n5/mode/2up |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Random House |isbn=9780679450054 |via=[[Internet Archive]] }} {{LCCN|97033021}}; {{ISBN|0-6797-7126-3}}.
* {{cite magazine |ref={{SfnRef|''Def Pen'', July 2,|2020}} |last1=Def Pen |last2=Shepard |first2=Ryan |date=July 2, 2020 |title=Paramount Pictures Acquires the Rights to Lee Daniels' {{_'}}''The United States vs. Billie Holiday''{{'-}} Starring Andra Day |magazine=Def Pen |url=https://defpen.com/paramount-pictures-acquires-the-united-states-vs-billie-holiday/ |access-date=July 6, 2020 }}
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Dufour,|1999|pp=40–42}} |last1=Dufour |first1=Ronald Paul|chapter=Holiday, Billie |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/americannational11garr/page/40/mode/2up |date=1999 |title=American National Biography |url=https://archive.org/details/americannational11garr/page/40/mode/2up |url-access=registration |type=see ''[[American National Biography]]'' |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] under the auspices of the [[American Council of Learned Societies]] |volume=11 |pages=40–42 |via=[[Internet Archive]] }} {{LCCN|98020826}}; {{ISBN|0-1952-0635-5}} (set), {{ISBN|0-1951-2790-0}} (Vol. 11); {{OCLC|39182280|show=all}}.<div style="margin-left:6em">Online version → {{cite book |date=February 2000 |title=''"Holiday, Billie (1915–1959), Singer"'' |doi=10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1800581 |isbn=978-0-19-860669-7 |url=https://www.anb.org/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-1800581 |url-access=subscription |last1=Dufour |first1=Ronald P. }} {{doi|10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1800581}} {{ISBN|978-0-1986-0669-7}}; {{OCLC|4825703966}}.</div>

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* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Eff,|2013|p=63}} |last1=Eff |first1=Elaine |date=2013 |title=The Painted Screens of Baltimore: An Urban Folk Art Revealed |url={{GBurl|AuEaBwAAQBAJ|p=63}} |publisher=[[University Press of Mississippi]] |page=63 |via=[[Google Books]] (limited preview) }} {{LCCN|2013015880}}; {{ISBN|1-4968-0392-2|978-1-6170-3891-4}}; {{OCLC|843228813|show=all}}.
* {{cite web |ref={{SfnRef|Evanier, January 6,|2009}} |last1=Evanier |first1=Mark |author-link1=Mark Evanier |date=January 6, 2009 |title=Bert Park's Bandstand |url=https://oldtvtickets.com/2009/01/bert-parks-bandstand/ |type=[[WordPress]] blog of [[Mark Evanier]] |website=Old TV Tickets |access-date=November 3, 2020 }}

<!--F-->
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Feather,|1972|p=82}} |last1=Feather |first1=Leonard |author-link1=Leonard Feather |date=1972 |title=From Satchmo to Miles |url=https://archive.org/details/fromsatchmotomil00feat/page/82/mode/2up |url-access=registration |publisher=Da Capo Press |page=82 |isbn=9780812814712 |via=[[Internet Archive]] }} {{LCCN|70187311}}; {{ISBN|978-0-3068-0302-4}}.
* {{cite web |ref={{SfnRef|Ford,|1958}} |date=1958 |title=Art Ford's Jazz Party |work=The Library of Congress |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/jots.200013567/ |type=see ''[[Jazz Party (TV series)|Jazz Party]]'' |access-date=November 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330042611/https://www.loc.gov/item/jots.200013567/ |archive-date=March 30, 2022}}

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* {{Cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Gourse,|2000|p=}} |last1=Gourse |first1=Leslie |author-link=Leslie Gourse |date=2000 |orig-date=1997 |title=The Billie Holiday Companion: Seven Decades of Commentary |location=New York |publisher=[[Schirmer Trade Books]] |isbn=9780028646138 |url=https://archive.org/details/billieholidaycom00gour_0 |url-access=registration |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[Kahle/Austin Foundation]]) }} {{LCCN|96031528}}; {{ISBN|0-0286-4613-4}}; {{OCLC|35033730|show=all}}.

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* {{cite magazine |ref={{SfnRef|Hari, January 17,|2015}} |last1=Hari |first1=Johann |author-link1=Johann Hari |date=January 17, 2015 |title=The Hunting of Billie Holiday: How Lady Day Found Herself in the Middle of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics' Early Fight for Survival |magazine=[[Politico]] |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/01/drug-war-the-hunting-of-billie-holiday-114298/ |access-date=February 22, 2021 }}
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Holiday & Dufty,|1956|p=}} |last1=Holiday |first1=Billie |editor-last1=Dufty |editor-first1=William |editor-link1=William Dufty |year=1992 |orig-date=1984, 1956 |title=Lady Sings the Blues |url=https://archive.org/details/ladysingsblues00holi_0/page/n3/mode/2up |type=with a revised discography by Vincent Pelote |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] |isbn=9780140067620 |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[Boston Public Library]]; [[University of Toronto]]) }} {{LCCN|56005962}}, {{LCCN|74153054}}, {{LCCN|83022014}}, {{LCCN|2007271682}}; {{ISBN|0-1400-6762-0}}; {{OCLC|884533|show=all}}.

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* {{cite book |title=Jazzstandards.com |url=https://www.jazzstandards.com/ |series=Site creator: Jeremy R. Wilson (born 1948). Editor-in-chief: Sandra Burlingame (''née'' Sandra Burlingame Gast; born 1937) |location=[[Portland, Oregon]] |publisher=Jazzstandards.com, LLC |access-date=November 13, 2010 }} {{OCLC|71004558}}.
<ol type="1" start="1">
<ol type="i" start="1">
<li> {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|''Jazzstandards.com,'' "1940s"}} |last1=Tyle |first1=Chris |author-link1=Chris Tyle |date= |title=''"Jazz History: The Standards" (1940s)'' |url=https://www.jazzstandards.com/history/history-4.htm |access-date=November 13, 2010 }}</li>
<li> {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|''Jazzstandards.com,'' "Lover Man"}} |last1=Wilson |first1=Jeremy |author-link1= |date= |title=''"Lover Man" ("Oh, Where Can You Be?") (1942)'' |url=https://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/loverman.htm |access-date=May 7, 2015 }}</li></ol></ol>
* {{cite magazine |ref={{SfnRef|''JazzTimes'', October 7,|2021}} |magazine=[[JazzTimes]] |last1=Porter |first1=Lewis |author-link1=Lewis Porter |date=October 7, 2021 |title=''The United States vs. Billie Holiday'' vs. the Truth |url=https://jazztimes.com/features/profiles/the-united-states-vs-billie-holiday-vs-the-truth/ |type=film review |access-date=August 7, 2022 |language=en-US }}
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Jepsen,|1969|p=}} |last1=Jepsen |first1=Jørgen Grunnet |author-link1=:de:Jørgen Grunnet Jepsen |date=1969 |orig-date=1960? |title=A Discography of Billie Holiday |url=https://archive.org/details/discographyofbil00jeps/page/n1/mode/2up |url-access=registration |type=author's surname is often misspelled in library catalogs as "Jepson" |location=[[Copenhagen]] |publisher=[[Karl Emil Knudsen]] [[:nl:Karl Emil Knudsen|(nl)]] (publisher) |page= |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[ARChive of Contemporary Music]]) }} {{OCLC|879783|show=all}}.

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* {{Cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Katz,|2002}} |last1=Katz |first1=Joel |date=2002 |title=Strange Fruit |url= |type=documentary; [[35 mm movie film|35 mm film]] & [[DVD]], 56:29 minutes |publisher=[[California Newsreel]] }} Premiered April 8, 2003, 10:00 {{smallcaps|pm}} on [[PBS]]'s ''[[Independent Lens]]'' → {{IMDb title|tt0350166|Strange Fruit}}; {{OCLC|56733073|show=all}}.
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Kuehl & Schocket,|1973|p=}} |last1=Kuehl |first1=Linda |author-link1=Linda Lipnack Kuehl |last2=Schocket |first2=Ellie|date=1973 |title=Billie Holiday Remembered |url= |type=booklet for exhibition of pictures, records, films, momentos, and spoken recollections, April 7, 1972 – June 30, 1972, compiled and arranged by Kuehl & Schocket; assisted by Dan Morgenstern |publisher=[[New York Jazz Museum]] (publisher) }} {{LCCN|77373175}}; {{OCLC|1358163|show=all}}.<div style="margin-left:6em">Note: {{age in years, months, weeks and days|1972|4|7|1974|03|31|format=Cardinal|sc=y}} after the exhibition opening, Schocket married Morgenstern.</div>

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* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|''Lady Love,''|1962}} |date=1962 |title=Lady Love |url= |type=liner notes by [[Leonard Feather]] and [[LeRoi Jones]] |publisher=[[United Artists Records]], UAJ-14014}} {{OCLC|15585296|show=all}}.<div style="margin-left:6em">''Lady Love'' is a 1962 issue of selections from a concert in [[Basel, Switzerland]], February 4, 1954, during Holiday's 1954 European tour, "Jazz Club U.S.A." The location and date of this session had been previously listed incorrectly as a concert in [[Cologne]], January 23, 1954. The correction was supplied by Arild Widerøe, a Swiss Jazz discographer. The master recording was (i) taken from a tape supplied by Roman Flury, a musicologist and, back then, editor at Radio Basel (a station in Basel that ran from 1926 to 1972) and (ii) given to Leonard Feather ({{cite book |title=''Billie Holiday [H7137].'' The Jazz Discography Online |url=https://lordisco.com/ |series=[see ''[[The Jazz Discography]]''] |url-access=subscription |access-date=September 15, 2022 }} This note is in the online edition of ''The Jazz Discography'' – retrieved September 15, 2022 – not in the 1994 hardcopy edition, Vol. 9).</div>
:: Side A:
<ol type="1" start="1">
<ol type="1" start="1">
<li> Announcement, by [[Leonard Feather]]</li>
<li> "[[Blue Moon (1934 song)|Blue Moon]]"</li>
<li> "[[All of Me (jazz standard)|All of Me]]"</li>
<li> "[[Mon Homme|My Man]]"</li>
<li> "[[Them There Eyes]]"</li>
<li> "[[I Cried For You]]"</li>
<li> "[[What a Little Moonlight Can Do]]"</li>
<li> "[[I Cover the Waterfront (song)|I Cover The Waterfront]]"</li></ol></ol>
:: Side B:
<ol type="1" start="1">
<ol type="1" start="1">
<li> "[[Billie's Blues]]"</li>
<li> "[[Lover, Come Back to Me]]"</li></ol></ol>
* {{cite journal |ref={{SfnRef|Lahr, December 20,|2018|p=}} |last1=Lahr |first1=John |author-link1=John Lahr |date=December 20, 2018 |title=Her Haunted Heart |url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/v40/n24/john-lahr/her-haunted-heart |type=review of a new release of the 1956 book, ''[[Lady Sings the Blues (book)|Lady Sings the Blues]]'' |journal=[[London Review of Books]] |volume=40 |issue=24 }} {{ISSN|0260-9592}}; {{OCLC|7950756292}}.
* {{cite magazine |ref={{SfnRef|''Life'', October 11,|1943|p=121}} |magazine=[[Life (magazine)|Life]] |last1=Mili |first1=Gjon (photographer) |author-link1=Gjon Mili |date=October 11, 1943 |title=Music: Jam Session |url={{GBurl|MlcEAAAAMBAJ |p=121 |dq="popular vocalist"}} |volume=15 |issue=15 |page= |pages=117–124 |via=[[Google Books]] }} {{ISSN|0024-3019}}.
<div style="margin-left:6em">Photo caption: "Billie Holiday sings '[[Fine and Mellow]],' a blues recorded for the [[Commodore Records|Commadore]] label. She has the most distinctive style of any popular vocalist, is imitated by other vocalists."</div>

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* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Margolick,|2000 |pp=25–27}} |last1=Margolick |first1=David |author-link1=David Margolick |date=2000 |title=Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday, Café Society, and an Early Cry for Civil Rights |url=https://archive.org/details/strangefruitbill00marg/page/24/mode/2up |url-access=registration |location=Philadelphia |publisher=[[Running Press]] |pages=25–27 |isbn=9780762406777 |via=[[Internet Archive]] }} {{LCCN|99074354}}; {{ISBN|0-7624-0677-1}}; {{OCLC|43723261|show=all}}.
* {{Cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Millar,|1994|p=}} |last=Millar |first=Jack |year=1994 |orig-date=1979 |title=Fine and Mellow: A Discography of Billie Holiday |trans-title=Born to Sing: A Discography of Billie Holiday |url=https://archive.org/details/borntosingdiscog00mill/page/n1/mode/2up |url-access=registration |location=London |publisher=Billie Holiday Circle |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[ARChive of Contemporary Music]]) }} {{LCCN|93169341}}; {{ISBN|1-8991-6100-7}}; {{OCLC|8435589|show=all}}.
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|''Essential Billie Holiday'',|1989}} |date=1989 |orig-date=2015, 1969; originally released in 1961 → Verve (E)2304117 |title=The Essential Billie Holiday – The Carnegie Hall Concert |url=https://archive.org/details/cd_the-essential-billie-holidaythe-carnegie-h_billie-holiday/ |type=[[CD]]. Recorded November 10, 1956, [[Carnegie Hall]] |publisher=[[Verve Records]] ([[PolyGram Records]]) 833-767-2 |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[Kahle-Austin Foundation]]) {{free access}} }} {{OCLC|20423720|show=all}}.<div style="margin-left:6em">Additional access → {{Discogs release|4524386|The Essential Billie Holiday|type=album}}</div>
<ol type="1" start="1">
<ol type="i" start="1">
<li> {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Millstein, June|1961}} |last1=Millstein |first1=Gilbert |date=June 1961 |title=''1st liner note'' |url=https://archive.org/details/cd_the-essential-billie-holidaythe-carnegie-h_billie-holiday/ }}</li>
<li> {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Hentoff,|n.d.}} |last1=Hentoff |first1=Nat |author-link1=Nat Hentoff |date=n.d. |title=''2nd liner note'' |url=https://archive.org/details/cd_the-essential-billie-holidaythe-carnegie-h_billie-holiday/ }}</li>
<li> {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Friedwald, June|1989}} |last1=Friedwald |first1=Will |author-link1=Will Friedwald |date=June 1989 |title=''3rd liner note'' |url=https://archive.org/details/cd_the-essential-billie-holidaythe-carnegie-h_billie-holiday/ }}</li></ol></ol>

<!--N-->
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|"New Jersey Death Index"}} |date=2016 |title=''"New Jersey, U.S., Death Index, 1848–1878, 1901–2017"'' |type=Elaine Leighton → Date of birth: May 22, 1926 → Place of birth: New York City → Date of death: May 13, 2012 → Place of death: New Jersey |location=[[Lehi, Utah]] |publisher=[[Ancestry.com]] }}
* {{cite magazine |ref={{SfnRef|''New Yorker'', April 3,|2015|p=}} |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |last1=Brody |first1=Richard |author-link1=Richard Brody |date=April 3, 2015 |title=The Art of Billie Holiday's Life |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-art-of-billie-holidays-life |type=review of [[John Szwed|Szwed]]'s 2015 book, ''Billie Holiday: The Musician and the Myth'' |series=Cultural Comment |access-date=April 6, 2015 }}
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Nicholson,|1995|p=}} |last1=Nicholson |first1=Stuart |date=1995 |title=Billie Holiday |url=https://archive.org/details/billieholiday00nich/page/n5/mode/2up |url-access=registration |location=Boston |publisher=[[Northeastern University Press]] |isbn=9781555532482 |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[Brewster Kahle|Kahle/Austin Foundation]]) }} {{LCCN|9516155}}; {{ISBN|1-5555-3303-5|978-1-5555-3303-8}}, {{ISBN|1-5555-3248-9|978-1-5555-3248-2}}; {{OCLC|32348099|show=all}}.
* {{cite book |ref=none |last1=Novaes |first1=Paulo |title=''Billie Holiday Songs'' |url=https://www.billieholidaysongs.com |series=([[WordPress]] blog of Paulo Novaes, Publisher; Fernanda Novaes, Art Director, Brazil) |publisher=Billie Holiday Songs at www.billieholidaysongs.com |access-date=September 18, 2010 }}
<ol type="1" start="1">
{{hanging indent |text=The below 10 online references were originally retrieved November 13, 2010, and are archived via [[Wayback Machine]]}}
<ol type="i" start="1">
<li> {{hanging indent |text={{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Novaes, "Live Songs,"|1935}} |title=''"Live Songs – 1935"'' |url=http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/live_songs.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100423114132/http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/live_songs.htm |archive-date=April 23, 2010 }} }}</li>
<li> {{hanging indent |text={{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Novaes, "Live Songs,"|1937}} |title=''"Live Songs – 1937"'' |url=http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/live_songs.htm#1937 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100423114132/http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/live_songs.htm#1937 |archive-date=April 23, 2010 }} }}</li>
<li> {{hanging indent |text={{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Novaes, "Studio Songs,"|1936}} |title=''"Studio Songs – 1936"'' |url=http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/all_songs.htm#1936 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528124535/http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/all_songs.htm#1936 |archive-date=May 28, 2010 }} }}</li>
<li> {{hanging indent |text={{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Novaes, "Studio Songs,"|1939}} |title=''"Studio Songs – 1939"'' |url=http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/all_songs.htm#1939 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414163506/http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/all_songs.htm |archive-date=April 14, 2012 }} }}</li>
<li> {{hanging indent |text={{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Novaes, "Studio Songs,"|1944}} |title=''"Studio Songs – 1944"'' |url=http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/all_songs.htm#1944 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528124535/http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/all_songs.htm#1944 |archive-date=May 28, 2010 }} }}</li>
<li> {{hanging indent |text={{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Novaes, "Studio Songs,"|1945}} |title=''"Studio Songs – 1945"'' |url=http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/all_songs.htm#1945 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528124535/http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/all_songs.htm#1945 |archive-date=May 28, 2010 }} }}</li>
<li> {{hanging indent |text={{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Novaes, "Studio Discography"}} |title=''"Studio Discography"'' |url=http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/vinyl_discography.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100702060641/http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/vinyl_discography.htm |archive-date=July 2, 2010 }} }}</li>
<li> {{hanging indent |text={{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Novaes, "Favorites"}} |title=''"Favorites"'' |url=http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/LP_discography.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225224251/http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/LP_discography.htm |archive-date=February 25, 2012 }} }}</li>
<li> {{hanging indent |text={{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Novaes, "The Composers"}} |title=''"Discography: The Composers"'' |url=https://www.billieholidaysongs.com/composers-2-2/all-songscomposers/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110310062032/http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/the_composers.htm |archive-date=March 10, 2011 }} }}</li>
<li> {{hanging indent |text={{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Novaes, "Musicians"}} |title=''"Discography: Her Musicians"'' |url=http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/the_musicians.htm#Wilson |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100831024022/http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/the_musicians.htm#Wilson |archive-date=August 31, 2010 }} }}</li></ol></ol>

<!--O-->
* {{Cite book |ref={{SfnRef|O'Meally,|1991|p=64}} |last1=O'Meally |first1=Robert George |author-link1=Robert G. O'Meally |date=1991 |title=Lady Day: The Many Faces of Billie Holiday |url=https://archive.org/details/ladydaymanyfaces00omea/page/64/mode/2up?q=Philadelphia |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=9781559701471 |via=[[Internet Archive]] }} {{ISBN|978-0-3068-0959-0}}; {{OCLC|45009756|show=all}}.
* {{cite journal |ref={{SfnRef|Ostendorf, May|1993|pp=201–202}} |last1=Ostendorf |first1=Berndt |date=May 1993 |title=Book Review: ''Lady Day: The Many Faces of Billie Holiday'' by Robert O'Meally |journal=Popular Music |publisher=[[International Association for the Study of Popular Music]] by the [[Cambridge University Press]] |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=201–202 |issn=0261-1430 |doi=10.1017/s0261143000005602 |jstor=931303|s2cid=161429886 }} {{OCLC|5304202560|5548500290|4668893513}} & {{OCLC search link|8271328299}}.

<!--R-->
* {{Cite magazine |ref={{SfnRef|Ripatrazone, August 14,|2018}} |last1=Ripatrazone |first1=Nick |date=August 14, 2018 |title=The Rhythm Becomes a Thing of the Spirit: On {{-'}}''Religion Around Billie Holiday''{{'-}} by Tracy Fessenden |url=https://themillions.com/2018/08/the-rhythm-becomes-a-thing-of-the-spirit-on-religion-around-billie-holiday-by-tracy-fessenden.html |magazine=[[The Millions]] |access-date=January 11, 2021 |language=en-US |publisher=[[PWxyz, LLC]] }}<div style="margin-left:6em">Book reviewed: {{cite book |last1=Fessenden |first1=Tracy |date=2018 |title=Religion Around Billie Holiday |url={{GBurl|Msy4DwAAQBAJ |p= |dq=}} |publisher=[[Pennsylvania State University Press]] }} {{LCCN|2017058145}}; {{ISBN|0-2710-8095-7|978-0-2710-8095-6}}; {{OCLC|1013821115|show=all}}.</div>
* {{Cite web |ref={{SfnRef|Rock & Roll Hall of Fame}} |title=Billie Holiday {{pipe}} Rock & Roll Hall of Fame |url=https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/billie-holiday |publisher=[[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] |access-date=July 28, 2021 }}
* {{Cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Rosenstein,|2018|p=134}} |last1=Rosenstein |first1=Carole |title=Understanding Cultural Policy |url={{GBurl|YHhQDwAAQBAJ |pg=PT134}} |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |page=134 }} {{LCCN|2017049690}}; {{ISBN|978-1-3155-2683-6}}, {{ISBN|978-1-1386-9533-7}} (hardback), {{ISBN|978-1-1386-9535-1}} (paperback).

<!--S-->
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Shaw,|1971|p=290}} |last1=Shaw |first1=Arnold |date=1971 |title=52nd Street, The Street of Jazz |url=https://archive.org/details/52ndstreetstreet00shaw/page/n3/mode/2up |url-access=registration |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=9780306800689 |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign]]) }} {{LCCN|7723547}}, {{LCCN|2010481663}}; {{ISBN|978-0-3068-0068-9}}; {{OCLC|760122544|show=all}}.
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Sheldon,|2011|pp=334–350}} |last1=Sheldon |first1=Harvey |chapter=Billie Holiday |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/historyofgoldena00shel/page/334/mode/2up |date=2011 |title=The History of the Golden Age of Pop Music of the 30's, 40's, 50's & 60's |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofgoldena00shel/page/334/mode/2up |url-access=registration |location=[[Charleston, South Carolina]] |publisher=[[BookSurge]] |pages=334–350 |isbn=9781461091059 |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[ARChive of Contemporary Music]]) }} {{ISBN|978-1-4610-9105-9|1-4610-9105-5}}; {{OCLC|759118310|show=all}}.
* {{Cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Szwed,|2015|p=}} |last1=Szwed |first1=John F.|author-link1=John Szwed |date=2015 |title=Billie Holiday: The Musician and The Myth |url=https://archive.org/details/billieholidaymus0000szwe_m3h1/page/n7/mode/2up |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=[[Viking Press]] |isbn=9780670014729 |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[Kahle/Austin Foundation]]) }} {{LCCN|2015001092}}; {{ISBN|978-0-6700-1472-9}}; {{OCLC|900333018|show=all}}.

<!--T-->
* {{Cite web |ref={{SfnRef|''Them'', January 12,|2021}} |last1=Them |website=[[Them (website)|Them]] |last2=Kim |first2=Michelle Hyun |date=January 12, 2021 |title=Watch Andra Day as Black, Bisexual Icon Billie Holiday in New Biopic Trailer |url=https://www.them.us/story/billie-holiday-biopic-hulu-trailer-andra-day-natasha-lyonne |type=review of the 2021 film, ''[[The United States vs. Billie Holiday]]'' |access-date=April 24, 2022 |language=en-US }}
* {{cite web |title=Tsort.info |url=https://tsort.info |type=blog of Steven Hawtin ''et al.,'' of the [[United Kingdom]]. }}
<ol type="1" start="1">
<ol type="i" start="1">
<li> {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|''Tsort.info'', "Billie Holiday"}} |title=''"Song Artist 178: 'Billie Holiday{{'-}}"'' |url=https://tsort.info/music/m8ravs.htm |access-date=November 13, 2010 }}</li>
<li> {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|''Tsort.info'', "Summertime"}} |title=''"Song Title 109: 'Summertime{{'-}}"'' |url=https://tsort.info/music/b7senr.htm |access-date=November 13, 2010 }}</li></ol></ol>

<!--V-->
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Vail,|1996|p=}} |last1=Vail |first1=Ken |author-link1=:de:Ken Vail |date=1996 |title=Lady Day's Diary: The Life of Billie Holiday, 1937–1959 |url=https://archive.org/details/ladydaysdiarylif00vail/page/n1/mode/2up |url-access=registration |edition=1st |publisher=Castle Communications PLC |page=125 |isbn=9781860741319 |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[ARChive of Contemporary Music]]) }} {{LCCN|96212448}}; {{ISBN|186074-131-2|978-1-8607-4131-9}}; {{OCLC|35561548|show=all}}.

<!--W-->
* {{cite web |ref={{SfnRef|Walker, November|2002}} |last1=Walker |first1=Toby |date=November 2002 |title=Billie Holiday |url=http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Billie%20Holiday.html |type=[[blog]]: "Toby Walker's guide to soul music, including over a thousand biographies of artists" – founded January 2001 |series=SoulWalking.co.uk |location=[[Surbiton, Surrey]] |access-date=September 20, 2022 |archive-date=August 23, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823042136/http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/billie%20holiday.html |url-status=dead }} Toby Walker's website → {{URL|http://www.tobywalker.co.uk}}.
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|White,|1987|p=110}} |last1=White |first1=John |date=1987 |title=Billie Holiday: Her Life & Times |url=https://archive.org/details/billieholidayher00white/page/110/mode/2up?q=rites |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Spellmount]] |page=110 |isbn=9780946771462 |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[ARChive of Contemporary Music]]) }} {{LCCN|8705966}}; {{ISBN|0-9467-7146-4|978-0-9467-7146-2}}.
{{refend}}

{{hanging indent |text='''News media'''}}
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
<!--G-->
* {{cite news |ref={{SfnRef|''Guardian'', May 3,|2015|p=}} |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |last1=Spencer |first1=Neil |author-link1=Neil Spencer |date=May 3, 2015 |title=''Billie Holiday: The Musician and the Myth'' Review – A Celebration of a True Original |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/03/billie-holiday-musician-myth-review-john-szwed-celebration-true-original |type=review of [[John Szwed|Szwed]]'s 2015 book, ''Billie Holiday: The Musician and the Myth''}}

<!--I-->
* {{cite news |ref={{SfnRef|Indiana Public Media, March 4,|2006}} |last1=Indiana Public Media |author-link1=Indiana Public Media |last2=Johnson |first2=David Brent |date=March 4, 2006 |title=Ghosts of Yesterday: Billie Holiday and the Two Irenes |url=https://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/ghosts-of-yesterday-billie-holiday-and-the-two-irenes-a-jazz-mystery.php#program-article}}

<!--L-->
* {{Cite news |ref={{SfnRef|''Los Angeles Times'', February 27,|2021|p=}} |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|last1=Roberts |first1=Randall |date=February 27, 2021 |title=What Really Happened When Federal Officers Persecuted Billie Holiday |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2021-02-27/united-states-vs-billie-holiday-strange-fruit-fbi |type=Review of the 2021 film, ''[[The United States vs. Billie Holiday]]'' |url-status=live |access-date=March 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227155134/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2021-02-27/united-states-vs-billie-holiday-strange-fruit-fbi |archive-date=February 27, 2021}}

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* {{cite news |ref={{SfnRef|''National Post'', May 17,|2005|pp=AL1–AL2}} |last1=Fulford |first1=Robert |author-link1=Robert Fulford (journalist) |date=May 17, 2005 |title=Trying to Find the Real Lady Day: Those Who Try to Tell Billie Holiday's Story Often Discover an Unknowable Life |url=http://www.robertfulford.com/2005-05-17-holiday.html |access-date=May 7, 2015 |volume=7 |issue=172 |pages=1–2 (section AL)}} ({{cite book |title=''also accessible via Newspapers.com'' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/514384543 |url-access=subscription}}).
* {{cite news |ref={{SfnRef|''New York Times'', July 18,|1959|p=15}} |date=July 18, 1959 |title=Billie Holiday Dies Here at 44 – Jazz Singer Had Wide Influence |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/07/18/80594441.html |url-access=subscription |edition=Late City |volume=108 |issue=37065 |page=15 |access-date=November 25, 2013 |via=[[TimesMachine]]}} ({{cite news |title=''permalink access'' |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/07/18/80594441.html?zoom=15.71 |url-access=subscription |via=[[TimesMachine]]}}) ({{cite book |date=July 18, 1959 |title=''also accessible via "On This Day" archive series'' |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0407.html |series={{free access}}}})<div style="margin-left:6em">"Billie Holiday, famed jazz singer, died yesterday in [[Metropolitan Hospital Center|Metropolitan Hospital]]. Her age was 44. The immediate cause of death was given as congestion of the lungs complicated by heart failure."</div>
* {{cite magazine |ref={{SfnRef|''New York Times Magazine'', December 24,|1972|pp=8–9, 18–19}} |magazine=[[New York Times Magazine]] |last1=Hentoff |first1=Nat |author-link1=Nat Hentoff |date=December 24, 1972 |title=The Real Lady Day |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/12/24/archives/the-real-lady-day-lady-day.html |series=Insert of ''The New York Times'' |volume=122 |issue=41973 |access-date=September 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316233243/https://www.nytimes.com/1972/12/24/archives/the-real-lady-day-lady-day.html |archive-date=March 16, 2018 |url-status=deviated}}<div style="margin-left:6em">→ {{cite book |title=''p. 8 (digital image 191)'' |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1972/12/24/issue.html?pageNumber=191}}; {{cite book |title=''p. 9 (digital image 69)'' |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1972/12/24/issue.html?pageNumber=69}}; {{cite book |title=''p. 18 (digital image 198)'' |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1972/12/24/issue.html?pageNumber=198}}; {{cite book |title=''p. 19 (digital image 199)'' |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1972/12/24/issue.html?pageNumber=199 |url-access=subscription |via=[[TimesMachine]]}}</div>
* {{cite news |ref={{SfnRef|''New York Times'', March 7,|2019|p=A19}} |last=Jacobs |first=Julia |date=March 6, 2019 |title=New York Will Add 4 Statues of Women}}
<ol type="1" start="1">
<ol type="i" start="1">
<li> Blog → {{cite news |title=New York Will Add 4 Statues of Women to Help Fix 'Glaring' Gender Gap in Public Art |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/06/nyregion/women-statues-nyc.html |series={{free access}} |date=March 6, 2019 |last1=Jacobs |first1=Julia}} {{ProQuest|2188361248}} (US Newsstream database).
<li> Print → {{cite news |title=City Will Add 4 Statues of Women |series=Metropolital Desk |url= |type=Late ed.; East Coast |page=18 (section A)}} {{ProQuest|2188518727}} (US Newsstream database).</li></ol></ol>
* {{cite news |ref={{SfnRef|NPR, ''All Things Considered'', April 7,|2015}} |work=[[All Things Considered]] |last1=McDonough |first1=John |date=April 7, 2015 |title=Billie Holiday: A Singer Beyond Our Understanding |url=https://www.npr.org/2015/04/07/397877385/ |type=radio broadcast transcript}} {{OCLC|7659178250|8966496156}}.
* {{Cite news |ref={{SfnRef|NPR, ''Morning Edition'', July 17,|2012}} |work=[[Morning Edition]] |last1=Blair |first1=Elizabeth |date=July 17, 2012 |title=Looking For Lady Day's Resting Place? Detour Ahead |url=https://www.npr.org/2012/07/17/156686608/ |type=radio broadcast transcript |access-date=July 29, 2019}} {{OCLC|8184700432|8234932309}}.

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* {{cite news |ref={{SfnRef|''Reuters'', July 4,|2008}} |editor-last1=Fahmy |editor-first1=Miral |date=July 4, 2008 |title=Travel Picks: Top 10 Famous Hotel Rooms |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-travel-picks-rooms/idUSSP29329220080704 |access-date=January 29, 2019}}

<!--S-->
*  {{ISSN|1932-8672}}; {{ProQuest}} (US Newsstream database).

{{Cite news |last=Hamlin |first=Jesse |date=September 18, 2006 |title=Billie Holiday's bio, 'Lady Sings the Blues,' may be full of lies, but it gets at jazz great's core |url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Billie-Holiday-s-bio-Lady-Sings-the-Blues-may-2469428.php |access-date=October 15, 2024 |work=[[SFGate]] |ref={{SfnRef|''San Francisco Chronicle'', September 18,|2006|p=G1}}}}{{refend}}

=== General references ===
{{hanging indent |text='''Books, journals, magazines, papers, and blogs'''}}
<!--the hanging indent helps the layout on mobile apps-->
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
<!--B-->
* {{Cite book |last1=Blackburn |first1=Julia |author-link=Julia Blackburn |date=2005 |title=With Billie: A New Look at the Unforgettable Lady Day}} {{LCCN|2004058661}}; {{OCLC|56413085|show=all}}.
<ol type="1" start="1">
<ol type="i" start="1">
<li> {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Blackburn,|2005|p=}} |date=2005 |title=''Registration required'' |url=https://archive.org/details/withbillie00blac_0/page/n5/mode/2up |url-access=registration |edition=1st American |publisher=[[Pantheon Books]] |isbn=9780375406102 |via=[[Internet Archive]] (China-America Digital Academic Library at [[Zhejiang University Library]])}} {{ISBN|0-3754-0610-7|978-0-3754-0610-2}}.</li>
<li> {{cite book |date=April 2006 |title=''Limited preview'' |url={{GBurl |C4mJ778JZicC |pg=PR3}} |edition=1st [[Vintage Books]] |via=[[Google Books]]}} {{ISBN|0-3757-0580-5|978-0-3757-0580-9}}.</li>
<li> {{cite book |date=April 2006 |title=''Limited preview'' |url={{GBurl |AC8BmUfNLNoC |pg=PP7}} |edition=1st [[Vintage Books]] |via=[[Google Books]]}}</li></ol></ol>

<!--C-->
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|||p=}} |last1=Collier |first1=James Lincoln |author-link1=James Lincoln Collier |date=1888 |title=''"Holiday, Billie"'' |type=dictionary biography, with references}} In →
<ol type="1" start="1">
<ol type="i" start="1">
<li> {{cite book |editor-last1=Kernfeld |editor-first1=Barry Dean |editor-link1=Barry Kernfeld |date=1988 |title=The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz |series=(2 Vols.) |location=London |publisher=[[Macmillan Press]] |pages=533–534}} {{LCCN|8725452}}; {{ISBN|0-9358-5939-X}}, {{ISBN|0-3333-9846-7}} (both Vols).</li>
<ol type="a" start="1">
<li> {{cite book |title=''Vol. 1 "A–K"'' |year=1988 |url=https://archive.org/details/newgrovedictiona0000unse_v3h2/page/532/mode/2up |url-access=registration |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[Kahle/Austin Foundation]])}}</li></ol>
<li> {{cite book |editor-last1=Kernfeld |editor-first1=Barry Dean |editor-link1=Barry Kernfeld |date=1994 |title=The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz |url=https://archive.org/details/newgrovedictiona00kernf/page/n5/mode/2up |url-access=registration |series=(1 Vol.) |location=New York |publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]] |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[ARChive of Contemporary Music]])}} {{LCCN|94012667}}.</li>
<li> {{cite book |editor-last1=Kernfeld |editor-first1=Barry Dean |editor-link1=Barry Kernfeld |date=2000 |orig-date=1988, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996 |title=The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz |type=[[Alyn Shipton]], consultant ed.; [[Stanley Sadie]], series ed. |series=(in 1 Vol.) |publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]] |pages=533–534}} {{ISBN|0-3121-1357-9|978-0-3121-1357-5}}; {{OCLC|723223640|show=all}}.</li>
<li> {{cite book |editor-last1=Kernfeld |editor-first1=Barry Dean |editor-link1=Barry Kernfeld |date=2002 |orig-date=1988, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000 |title=The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz |edition=2nd |type=[[Alyn Shipton]], consultant ed.; [[Stanley Sadie]], series ed. |series=in 3 Vols. |publisher=London: [[Macmillan Press]]. New York: [[St. Martin's Press]] |pages=}} {{LCCN|2001040794}} (2nd ed; 2002); {{OCLC|723223640|show=all}}.</li>
<ol type="a" start="1">
<li> {{cite book |title=''Vol. 2 "Gabler–Niewood"'' |year=2002 |isbn=9781561592845 |url=https://archive.org/details/newgrovedictiona0002unse_l1j0/page/262/mode/2up |url-access=registration |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[Kahle/Austin Foundation]]) |last1=Kernfeld |first1=Barry Dean |publisher=Grove's Dictionaries Incorporated}}</li></ol></ol></ol>

<!--G-->
* {{Cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Griffin,|2001|p=}} |last1=Griffin |first1=Farah Jasmine |author-link1=Farah Griffin |date=2001 |title=If You Can't Be Free, Be a Mystery: In Search of Billie Holiday |url=https://archive.org/details/ifyoucantbefreeb00grif/page/n7/mode/2up |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=[[Free Press (publisher)|The Free Press]]; [[Random House]] |isbn=9780684868080 |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[ARChive of Contemporary Music]])}} {{LCCN|2001018962}}; {{ISBN|0-6848-6808-3}}; {{OCLC|123102571|show=all}}.

<!--I-->
* {{cite book |last1=Ingham |first1=Chris |date=2000 |title=Billie Holiday |url=https://archive.org/details/billieholiday0000ingh/page/n3/mode/2up |url-access=registration |location=[[Darby, Pennsylvania]] |publisher=Diane Publishing |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[Kahle/Austin Foundation]])}} {{ISBN|1-5664-9170-3}}; {{OCLC|45501503|show=all}}.

<!--J-->
* {{Cite book |ref={{SfnRef|James,|1984|p=}} |last=James |first=Burnett |year=1984 |title=Billie Holiday |location=[[Gloucestershire, England]] |url=https://archive.org/details/billieholiday00jame/page/4/mode/2up |url-access=registration |publisher=Spellmount Publishers |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[ARChive of Contemporary Music]])}} {{LCCN|84122032}}; {{ISBN|0-9467-7105-7}}; {{OCLC|10938837|show=all}}.

<!--K-->
* {{cite journal |last1=Kaplan |first1=Samuel W. |date=February 2002 |title=Film review: ''Strange Fruit'' – A Film Documentary Produced, Directed, and Edited by Joel Katz, California Newsreel, 2002, $195 |journal=[[Humanity & Society]] |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=77–83 |issn=0160-5976 |doi=10.1177/016059760202600106 |s2cid=220898299}} ([[Sage Journals]]); {{ProQuest|1977661018}}; {{OCLC|7256045161|5723561205}}.
* {{cite book |last1=Kliment |first1=Bud |date=1990 |title=Billie Holiday}} {{LCCN|89030450}}; {{OCLC|19848784|show=all}}.
<ol type="1" start="1">
<ol type="i" start="1">
<li> {{cite book |date=1990 |title=''Registration required'' |url=https://archive.org/details/billieholiday00klime/page/n5/mode/2up |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Chelsea House Publishers]] |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[ARChive of Contemporary Music]])}} {{ISBN|1-5554-6592-7|07910-0241-1}}.</li>
<li> {{cite book |date=1990 |title=''Registration required'' |url=https://archive.org/details/billieholiday0000klim/page/n3/mode/2up |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Melrose Square Publishing Company]] |isbn=9780870675614 |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[Kahle/Austin Foundation]])}} {{ISBN|0-8706-7561-3}}.</li>
<li> {{cite book |date=1990 |title=''Limited preview'' |url={{GBurl |AAH2fH6UXlAC |p=3}} |edition= |publisher=[[Melrose Square Publishing Company]] |via=[[Google Books]]}} {{ISBN|0-8706-7561-3}}.</li></ol></ol>

<!--L-->
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|||pp=H739–H767}} |editor-last1=Lord |editor-first1=Tom |editor-link1=Tom Lord |date=1994 |title=[[The Jazz Discography|Jazz Discography]] ''(''The'')'' |publisher=[[West Vancouver, British Columbia]]: Lord Music Reference Inc. – [[Redwood, New York]]: Cadence Jazz Books}}
<ol type="1" start="1">
<ol type="i" start="1">
<li> {{cite book |title=''"Billie Holiday"'' |year=1998 |url=https://archive.org/details/jazzdiscogvol1900lord/page/738/mode/2up |url-access=registration |volume=9 |pages=H739–H767 |isbn=9781881993186 |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[ARChive of Contemporary Music]]) |last1=Lord |first1=Tom |publisher=Lord Music Reference}} {{ISBN|1-8819-9308-6}}; {{OCLC|30547554|show=all}}.</li></ol></ol>

<!--R-->
* {{cite book |last1=Rust |first1=Brian Arthur Lovell |author-link1=Brian Rust |date=1978 |title=Jazz Records, 1897–1942. ''"Billie Holilday"'' |url=https://archive.org/details/jazzrecords1897100rust/page/766/mode/2up |url-access=registration |edition=4th and enlarged |publisher=[[Arlington House Publishers]] |volume=1 |pages=767–770 |isbn=9780870004049 |via=[[Internet Archive]] ([[ARChive of Contemporary Music]])}} {{LCCN|7801693}}; {{ISBN|0-8700-0404-2}}; {{OCLC|3649797|show=all}}.
{{refend}}

{{hanging indent |text='''News media'''}}
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
<!--N-->
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|''New York Times'', September 10,|2015|p=C3}} |title=The New York Times, Chow, Andrew R}}
<ol type="1" start="1">
<ol type="i" start="1">
<li> {{hanging indent |text=Blog → {{cite news |date=September 9, 2015 |title=Billie Holiday, via Hologram, Returning to the Apollo|url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/09/09/billie-holiday-hologram-to-debut-at-apollo-this-year/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=September 10, 2015}} {{ProQuest|1715656534}} (US Newsstream database) }}</li>
<li> {{hanging indent |text=Print → {{cite news |date=September 10, 2015 |title=Billie Holiday at Apollo, Via a Hologram |url= |type=Late ed.; East Coast |page=C3 }} {{ProQuest|1710599891}} (US Newsstream database) }}</li></ol></ol>

<!--P-->
* {{cite news |last1=Keith |first1=Harold LeRoy |date=July 25, 1959 |title=She Had a Right to Sing the Blues – Billie (Lady Day) Holiday Bows Out |newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Courier|The Pittsburgh Courier]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26532173/billie-holiday-obit-pittsburgh-courier/ |type=obituary |url-access=subscription |volume=51 |issue=30 |page=24 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} ({{cite book |title=''alternate link'' |url=https://fultonhistory.com/Newspapers%2023/Pittsburgh%20PA%20Courier/Pittsburgh%20PA%20Courier%201959/Pittsburgh%20PA%20Courier%201959%20-%201193.pdf |via=[[Fultonhistory.com]] {{free access}}}})<div style="margin-left:6em">Note: Keith, the author, was, at the time, Editor of the ''Pittsburgh Courier.''</div>

{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://billieholiday.be Discography]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080628203928/http://www.jazz.com/dozens/b-holiday-dozens "Twelve Essential Billie Holiday Recordings"] by Stuart Nicholson, Jazz.com
* {{Playbill person|billie-holiday-vault-0000016849}} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20120624085938/http://www.playbillvault.com/Person/Detail/16849/Billie-Holiday archive])
* [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/489/billie-holiday Billie Holiday] on [[Find a Grave|Find A Grave]]
* {{IMDb name|0390507}}
* {{IBDB name}}
* Emory University: [http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/8zfrk Billie Holiday collection, 1953-1981]

{{Billie Holiday}}
{{Navboxes
|title = [[List of awards and nominations received by Billie Holiday|Awards for Billie Holiday]]
|list =
{{Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award}}
{{Maryland Women's Hall of Fame}}
{{National Women's Hall of Fame}}
{{2000 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame}}
}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holiday, Billie}}
[[Category:Billie Holiday]]
[[Category:1915 births]]
[[Category:1959 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American women singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American women singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American singers]]
[[Category:African-American women singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:American women singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:Aladdin Records artists]]
[[Category:Alcohol-related deaths in New York City]]
[[Category:American contraltos]]
[[Category:American women jazz singers]]
[[Category:American jazz singers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of drug offenses]]
[[Category:American prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:American street performers]]
[[Category:American ballad musicians]]
[[Category:Burials at Saint Raymond's Cemetery (Bronx)]]
[[Category:Classic female blues singers]]
[[Category:Columbia Records artists]]
[[Category:Deaths from cirrhosis]]
[[Category:Drug-related deaths]]
[[Category:Decca Records artists]]
[[Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from Maryland]]
[[Category:African-American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:American bisexual women]]
[[Category:American bisexual musicians]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ singers]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ songwriters]]
[[Category:Singers from Baltimore]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Swing singers]]
[[Category:American torch singers]]
[[Category:Traditional pop music singers]]
[[Category:Vocalion Records artists]]
[[Category:African-American Catholics]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriters from Maryland]]
[[Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:Saint Frances Academy (Baltimore) alumni]]
[[Category:DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame members]]