Smith, Bessie (Elizabeth) (1894–1937)
US jazz and blues singer. Known as the ‘Empress of the Blues’, she established herself in the 1920s after she was discovered by Columbia Records. She made over 150 recordings accompanied by such greats as Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman.
Her popularity waned during the Depression, and she died from injuries sustained in a car crash. Reportedly, had she been white her life could have been saved, as she would have received medical care more quickly (she was refused admission to a whites-only hospital).
| US playwright Edward Albee treated the subject of her death in his play The Death of Bessie Smith (1960). |
