Billie Holiday

Holiday at the Downbeat jazz club, c. 1947, Library of Congress’s Music Division, by William P. Gottlieb

Birth Name: Eleanora Fagan

Date of Birth: April 7, 1915

Place of Birth: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

Date of Death: July 17, 1959

Place of Death: Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.

Ethnicity: African-American

Billie Holiday was an American jazz musician, singer, and songwriter. She was nicknamed Lady Day.

She was the daughter of Sarah Julia (Fagan) and Clarence Holiday, who was a jazz banjo player and guitarist. She was raised in Baltimore, mostly by her mother’s half-sister Eva Miller and her relatives. She was married to Louis McKay, until her death.

Billie’s paternal grandparents were named Nelson Holliday and Mary.