Year 7, Day 41

Good Morning! Today's song is Let It Snow by Ella Fitzgerald. 

Photo from: IISG

Ella Fitzgerald was a Jazz singer active from 1934 until 1994. Her mother died in 1932, and she was left in the care of her stepfather until 1933, when she moved to live with her aunt. It's assumed that she was abused by her stepfather, although she refused to talk about that time, and her life went downhill until she ended up in a state reformatory school. She was singing on the streets in Harlem at that time, but officially began her career in 1934 with an Amateur Night competition at the Apollo Theatre. She was supposed to win the chance to perform there, but they never actually let her because of her appearance. The next year, she won a chance to perform at the Harlem Opera House, and was introduced to Chick Webb who was looking for a female singer. He took a chance on her and joined his orchestra, gaining popularity and recording some of the decade's most popular songs. When Webb died in 1939 she took over the orchestra, renaming it Ella and her Famous Orchestra. Along with that she also recorded with the Benny Goodman Orchestra, Ella Fitzgerald and Her Savoy Eight, and the Three Keys. As jazz became less popular, she got into the be-bop scene which skyrocketed her popularity. In 1955 she left her label and her manager created Verve Records for her. She branched out a bit beyond be-bop, releasing Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book, which includes music she's most well known for. She continued making huge albums on the Verve label, and then at Pablo Records, again founded by her manager, after Verve was sold. Her voice started to wane as she was dealing with health problems, so she did her last recording in 1991, then stopped performing publicly in 1993. She passed away in 1996, peacefully at home. During her career she won thirteen Grammy Awards, along with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and was the first African American woman to win there. I generalized a lot of her career because it was huge, but it needs to be acknowledged that she played a huge role in transforming the music industry in a number of ways. Her versions of songs changed the climate in the industry, and she made some strides in the racial discrimination she had to deal with in the beginning of her career. I know that this is a Christmas song, and probably the one most people in my age group think of first and foremost, but if you're curious look into the rest of her career. 

Peace.