Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan on April 7, 1915. She had an incredibly difficult childhood, sharing odd jobs with her mother including working within a brothel. She was charged with truancy in juvenile court when she was 9 years old and by age 11, she had dropped out of school. After discovering the music of Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith, she developed an affinity for jazz. As a teenager she sang in Harlem nightclubs using the name Billie Holiday after actress Billie Dove and Clarence Halliday, her father. 

She published an autobiography titled Lady Sings the Blues that was published in 1956. She released twelve Studio LPs under four labels.

Billie died in Metropolitan Hospital, New York on July 17, 1959 due to heart failure caused by cirrhosis of the liver. She battled longstanding addictions for most of her life. She was arrested multiple times due to possession of narcotics. She also faced struggles due to her African-American ethnicity, in a segregated pre-civil rights era American culture.

A biographical movie was made in the 1970's featuring singer Diana Ross as Billie. The movie was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe. Posthumosly, Billie won 23 Grammy awards and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame.