Smith was born April 15, 1894, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She was an independent African-American woman who was born into a large and poor family. She was one of eight children. At a young age, both her parents and her two brothers passed away. Bessie started singing and dancing on the street with her brother which helped her poor family financially. Her career started when she got a job with Vaudeville. Was given the name “Empress of the Blues” for her ability to endure the obstacles that a black female singer faced at the time. Bessie Smith faced indifferent, segregation, and other things in her personal life growing up.
She traveled through the south singing in shows, bars, and theaters in small towns and in cities such as Birmingham, Memphis, Atlanta, and savannah. She was known to only sing for black and disliked singing for white. …show more content…
In early 1920, smith was living in Philadelphia. In 1923, Bessie Smith signed a contract with Columbia Records, which she made $20,000 a year. That made her the highest black artist ever made at that time.
She sang classic material for blues. Her were about love, poverty, betrayal, and oppression of the world. Some of her songs are “Work Horse Blues” which is poverty and hard labor, “Jail House Blues” which is about prison, and “a Bottle of Beer” which is about drinking and having a good time.
In 1937, she was she died in a car accident. One of the reasons Bessie smith could not get help fast could be that the ambulance was not able to find black hospitals near and at this time white hospitals did not help African Americans. Bessie Smith suffered a lot in her life hardship growing to discrimination in her work, but she still fought for what she loved singing. One of her famous quotes is “I’ve been poor and I’ve been rich and rich is
She traveled through the south singing in shows, bars, and theaters in small towns and in cities such as Birmingham, Memphis, Atlanta, and savannah. She was known to only sing for black and disliked singing for white. …show more content…
In early 1920, smith was living in Philadelphia. In 1923, Bessie Smith signed a contract with Columbia Records, which she made $20,000 a year. That made her the highest black artist ever made at that time.
She sang classic material for blues. Her were about love, poverty, betrayal, and oppression of the world. Some of her songs are “Work Horse Blues” which is poverty and hard labor, “Jail House Blues” which is about prison, and “a Bottle of Beer” which is about drinking and having a good time.
In 1937, she was she died in a car accident. One of the reasons Bessie smith could not get help fast could be that the ambulance was not able to find black hospitals near and at this time white hospitals did not help African Americans. Bessie Smith suffered a lot in her life hardship growing to discrimination in her work, but she still fought for what she loved singing. One of her famous quotes is “I’ve been poor and I’ve been rich and rich is