Ella fitzgerald when was she born

The two were married and eventually adopted a son, whom they named Ray, Jr. At the time, Ray was working for producer and manager Norman Granz on the "Jazz at the Philharmonic" tour. Norman saw that Ella had what it took to be an international star, and he convinced Ella to sign with him. It was the beginning of a lifelong business relationship and friendship.

Under Norman's management, Ella joined the Philharmonic tour, worked with Louis Armstrong on several albums and began producing her infamous songbook series. The series was wildly popular, both with Ella's fans and the artists she covered.

Ella also began appearing on television variety shows. Due to a busy touring schedule, Ella and Ray were often away from home, straining the bond with their son. Ultimately, Ray Jr. Unfortunately, busy work schedules also hurt Ray and Ella's marriage. The two divorced in , but remained good friends for the rest of their lives.

On the touring circuit it was well-known that Ella's manager felt very strongly about civil rights and required equal treatment for his musicians, regardless of their color. Norman refused to accept any type of discrimination at hotels, restaurants or concert halls, even when they traveled to the Deep South.

Once, while in Dallas touring for the Philharmonic, a police squad irritated by Norman's principles barged backstage to hassle the performers. They came into Ella's dressing room, where band members Dizzy Gillespie and Illinois Jacquet were shooting dice, and arrested everyone.

Norman wasn't the only one willing to stand up for Ella. She received support from numerous celebrity fans, including a zealous Marilyn Monroe. She personally called the owner of the Mocambo, and told him she wanted me booked immediately, and if he would do it, she would take a front table every night.

She told him - and it was true, due to Marilyn's superstar status - that the press would go wild. The owner said yes, and Marilyn was there, front table, every night. The press went overboard. After that, I never had to play a small jazz club again. She was an unusual woman - a little ahead of her times. And she didn't know it. Ella continued to work as hard as she had early on in her career, despite the ill effects on her health.

Born on this day in , Ella Fitzgerald passed away in at the age of 79 in Beverly Hills, California. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! On April 25, , the NFL adopts a new overtime rule for regular-season games to prevent tie games. The rule change comes as part of sweeping effort to improve the action and tempo of games.

The league also moves goal posts from the front to the back of the end zone and limits On April 25, a magnitude 7. It was the worst such earthquake for the Asian country since The earthquake struck shortly before noon, but the devastation continued as several dozen aftershocks In doing so, they unwittingly introduced lead-poisoned water into homes, in what would become a massive public-health crisis.

The crew of the U. The space telescope, conceived in the s, designed in the s, and built in the s, was designed to give astronomers an The pair wed in , and they adopted a child born to Fitzgerald's half-sister whom they named Raymond "Ray" Brown Jr. The marriage ended in The s and s proved to be a time of great critical and commercial success for Fitzgerald, and she earned the moniker "First Lady of Song" for her mainstream popularity and unparalleled vocal talents. Her unique ability to mimic instrumental sounds helped popularize the vocal improvisation of scatting, which became her signature technique.

In , Fitzgerald began recording for the newly created Verve. At the very first Grammy Awards in , Fitzgerald picked up her first two Grammys — and made history as the first African American woman to win the award — for best individual jazz performance and best female vocal performance for the two songbook projects Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book and Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book , respectively. She worked directly with Ellington on the former album.

A truly collaborative soul, Fitzgerald produced great recordings with such artists as Louis Armstrong and Count Basie.

She also performed several times with Frank Sinatra over the years as well. In , Fitzgerald broke into the pop charts with her rendition of "Mack the Knife. One especially memorable concert series from this time was a two-week engagement in New York City in with Sinatra and Basie. By the s, Fitzgerald experienced serious health problems. She had heart surgery in and had been suffering from diabetes.

The disease left her blind, and she had both legs amputated in She made her last recording in and her last public performance in at New York's Carnegie Hall. Fitzgerald died on June 15, , at her home in Beverly Hills. In all, Fitzgerald recorded more than albums and some 2, songs in her lifetime. She also had a younger half-sister, Frances, who was born in To help with the family's finances, Fitzgerald often worked odd jobs including, at times, running bet money for local gamblers.

By her teens, the self-professed tomboy was active in sports and often played in local baseball games. Influenced by her mother, she also enjoyed singing and dancing, and spent many hours singing along to records by Bing Crosby , Connee Boswell , and the Boswell Sisters.

She also began taking the train to see shows with friends at Harlem's Apollo Theater. In , her mother died from injuries sustained in a car accident. Deeply distraught over the loss, Fitzgerald went through a difficult period that found her skipping school and getting in trouble with the police. She was subsequently sent to a reform school, where she endured abuse by her caretakers. Eventually breaking free from the reformatory, she found herself on her own in New York during the height of the Great Depression.

Despite her struggles, she worked to pursue her love of performing. In , she entered and won an amateur contest at the Apollo, singing Hoagy Carmichael 's "Judy" in the style of her idol, Connee Boswell. In the house band that night was saxophonist Benny Carter , who took the young vocalist under his wing and encouraged her to keep developing her career.

More contests followed, and in Fitzgerald won a weeklong spot singing with Tiny Bradshaw at the Harlem Opera House. There, she met influential drummer Chick Webb , who agreed to try her out with his orchestra at a one-nighter at Yale University. She won the crowd over, and spent the next few years with the drummer, who became her legal guardian and reworked his show to feature the singer.

Though only in his thirties, the drummer, who had struggled with congenital spinal tuberculosis throughout his life, would purportedly collapse from exhaustion after playing a set.