Billie Holiday Plaza
“Lady Day” Sings

Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday revolutionized jazz singing with her relaxed approach, rhythmic attack, laconic phrasing, and the use of blues devices. Her legendary beauty and innovative style continue to be widely imitated.

Born in Philadelphia in 1915 as Eleanora Fagan, her mother, Sadie Harris, returned to Baltimore with her infant daughter soon after her birth. They lived in Baltimore’s Fell’s Point, Old Town, and Old West Baltimore.

Holiday’s singing career began in the Harlem night clubs in 1933, when Columbia Records producer John Hammond wrote in Melody Maker Magazine, April 1933:

“This month there has been a real find in the person of a singer called Billie Holiday. She is incredibly beautiful and sings as well as anybody I have ever heard.”

Holiday is believed to be the first black woman to sing with a white band when she performed with Artie Shaw. Her performances at Club Astoria in Baltimore are the stuff of legend. She recorded a demo with Benny Goodman, “Your Mother’s Son-In-Law.” From 1933 through 1958, Holiday recorded and performed with Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson, Fletcher Henderson, Count Basie, Artie Shaw and Lester “Prez” Young. It is rumored that saxophonist Young gave her the nickname “Lady Day.” Returning to Baltimore a star, she headlined at the Royal and Club Tijuana.

1300 Druid Hill Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21217