File:Bessie_Smith_(1936)_by_Carl_Van_Vechten.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Bessie Smith
Sign in to saveAlso known as The Empress of the Blues, Empress of the Blues
American blues singer (1892–1937)
OverviewAI-generated
Bessie Smith (1894–1937) was an American musician, singer, dancer, and street artist. Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, she was an African American woman who worked primarily in the blues, jazz, and classic female blues genres. Her musical career began in 1912, and she recorded for Columbia Records. Smith was recognized as a member of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame collection.
She is often referred to by the nickname "Empress of the Blues." Smith’s recorded works include *Yolla--the first century*, *Empress of the Blues*, *The sunny side of the Neutrals*, *Bessie Smith Songbook*, and *I Can Write Streetland (I Can Write) (I Can Write)*. She spoke English and performed using her voice.
Smith died in Clarksdale on September 26, 1937. Her death was accidental, resulting from a traffic collision.
Synthesized by Vinony from 39 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, TMDb, Vinony collections, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Works
- 5
Top works
- Yolla--the first century
- Empress of the Blues
- The sunny side of the Neutrals
- Bessie Smith Songbook
- I Can Write Streetland (I Can Write) (I Can Write)
via Open Library + Wikidata
Film & TV
Acting · Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the "Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s. She is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and was a major influence on fellow blues singers, as well as jazz vocalists.
Known for
- The Story Of The Blues — Self (archive footage)2004
- It's Black Entertainment — Self (archive footage)2002
- A Huey P. Newton Story — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)2001
- Blues Masters — Self (archive footage)1999
- Blues Masters - The Essential History of the Blues — Self (archive footage)1993
- Bluesland: A Portrait in American Music — Self (archive footage)1993
- St. Louis Blues — Bessie - Battered Wife1929
via TMDB
Music · MusicBrainz
- Type
- Person
- Gender
- Female
- Country
- United States
- Active from
- 1894
- Active to
- 1937
Discography
- Baby Won’t You Please Come Home Blues / Oh Daddy Blues1923
- Easy Come Easy Go Blues / Frosty Morining Blues1924
- Haunted House Blues / Eavesdropper's Blues1924
- Careless Love Blues / He's Gone Blues1925
- Nashville Women’s Blues / I Ain’t Goin’ to Play Second Fiddle1925
- The St. Louis Blues / Cold in Hand Blues1925
- The Gin House Blues / Lost Your Head Blues1926
- After You've Gone / Muddy Water (A Mississippi Moan)1927
- Back-Water Blues / Preachin' the Blues1927
- Lock and Key / Trombone Cholly1927
via MusicBrainz · CC0
Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 366,462
- Total plays
- 2,930,120
Tags
Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer. Nicknamed The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s. She is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and, along with Louis Armstrong, a major influence on other jazz vocalists. The 1900 census indicates that Bessie Smith was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in July 1892. However, the 1910 census recorded her birthday as April 15 <a href="https://w
Recent publications · Crossref
5 total works indexed
- Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test
· 1997 · cited 48,635x
- Colorimetric Method for Determination of Sugars and Related Substances
· 1956 · cited 42,296x
- SciPy 1.0: fundamental algorithms for scientific computing in Python
· 2020 · cited 36,455x
- GROMACS: High performance molecular simulations through multi-level parallelism from laptops to supercomputers
· 2015 · cited 25,304x
- Array programming with NumPy
· 2020 · cited 23,422x
via Crossref · CC0
~27 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Bessie Smith (April 15, 1892 – September 26, 1937) was an African-American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the "Empress of the Blues" and formerly Queen of the Blues, she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, she is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and was a major influence on fellow blues singers, as well as jazz vocalists.
Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Smith was young when her parents died, and she and her six siblings survived by performing on street corners. She began touring and performed in a group that included Ma Rainey, and then went out on her own. Her successful recording career with Columbia Records began in 1923, but her performing career was cut short by a car crash that killed her at the age of 45.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Bessie Smith” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.