25 April: Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald, American Jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz, and Lady Ella, was born on this date in 1917. 10 things you might not know about her:

1. She was born in Newport News, Virginia. Her family were Methodists and active in the local church. This was where Ella was first introduced to music. Also her mother bought jazz records so there was music at home, as well. As a child, Ella was a fan of Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby and the Boswell Sisters.
2. At first, dancing, rather than singing was her passion. She started taking dance lessons in third grade. Indeed, when she made her stage debut in a talent contest at the Apollo Theater, aged 17, she intended to dance on stage rather than sing. However, on seeing the competition, namely, the Edwards Sisters, she didn't think she could beat them and decided to sing, instead. The audience loved her and she won the contest.
3. She did well at school until she moved to New York with her mother and her new partner. Her mother died from injuries sustained in a car crash when Ella was fifteen. It's thought her stepfather abused her and she eventually went to live with an aunt. Around that time, she started skipping school and got involved in some dodgy activities like working as a runner for the Mafia and as a lookout at a brothel. She ended up in a reform school as a result.
4. The young woman who won the Apollo competition was, therefore, a scruffy street kid and so the theatre didn't make good on part of the prize offer – a week long gig on their stage. The bandleader Chuck Webb was reluctant to take her on because she looked “gawky and unkempt”, but was won over by her powerful voice.
5. Even in the 1950s some club owners didn't think she was glamorous enough to appear on their stage. The Mocambo, a very popular nightclub being one. However, Ella's singing had caught the attention of Marilyn Monroe, who stepped in to call the owner and say if he booked Ella, she would be there at a table in the front, every night. The owner couldn't resist publicity like that, so he hired Ella, and Marilyn made good on her word and attended every night.
6. Her first hit was an adaptation of the nursery rhyme, A-Tisket, A-Tasket, which she helped to write.
7. She also acted in films. Her first was an Abbott and Costello flick called Ride ‘Em Cowboy in 1942.
8. In 1958 Fitzgerald became the first African American woman to win a Grammy Award. She won two that year – one for Best Jazz Performance, Soloist for Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook, and another for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook. She would go on to win 14 Grammys, and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1967. She was also the first African-American woman to perform during Superbowl Halftime in 1972.
9. She's known to have married twice. Her first husband was Benny Kornegay, a convicted drug dealer and local dockworker. She married him in 1941 but the marriage was annulled in 1942. In 1947 she married bass player Ray Brown, who she met while on tour with Dizzy Gillespie's band. However, their busy careers led to an amicable divorce in 1953. It's possible there was a third husband, Thor Einar Larsen, a young Norwegian. However, he went to prison in Sweden for stealing from an ex girlfriend, so her relationship with him came to an end.
10. Her last performance was at Carnegie Hall in 1991. After that, she lost her eyesight and had to have both legs amputated below the knee as a result of diabetes. She never quite recovered from that, and died in 1996 aged 79.

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