Smith, Bessie, 1894–1937, American singer, b. Chattanooga, Tenn. About 1910 Smith became the protégée of Gertrude (Ma) Rainey, one of the earliest blues singers. After working in traveling shows she went to New York City, where she made (1923–28) recordings, accompanied by such outstanding artists as Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, and James P. Johnson. She quickly became the favorite singer of the jazz public. The power and somber beauty of her voice, coupled with songs representing every variety of the blues, earned her the title “Empress of the Blues.” Around 1928, changing popular taste and her growing alcoholism led to a decline in her popularity. Though she continued to tour, her last years were embittered. She died after an automobile accident while on tour in Mississippi; controversy has surrounded the circumstances of her death, with it originally reported that she was denied admittance to a white hospital. Numerous critics regarded her as among the greatest of all jazz artists, and her fame increased enormously after her death.
See biographies by P. Oliver (1961) and C. Albertson (rev. ed. 2003).
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