And it’s a very fine line ... it’s the art that ultimately should stand there hanging on the wall. Mona Lisa is more interesting than Leonardo da Vinci, you know, and Billie Holiday singing ...

John Szwed’s brief but revelatory new book, “Billie Holiday ... the immense complexity of inner life that art conveys—including Holiday’s seemingly straightforward and instantly ...

“[Bille Holiday] was such an avant-garde [figure], so it was trying to pull things that seemed new. There are so many pictures of her, it’s wild. She has so many looks within all these ...

Billie Holiday National Portrait Gallery Maya Angelou and Billie Holiday Holiday, Billie (Fagan, Eleanora) National Museum of American History Strange Fruit; Fine and Mellow National Museum of African ...

Yet Holiday’s talent as a songwriter is often overlooked, even though she co-authored at least 15 songs, five of which have become jazz and blues classics: “Billie’s Blues,” “Fine and ...

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FINE AND MELLOW") HOLIDAY: (Singing) Treat me right, baby, and I'll stay home every day. WILLIAMS: This poem is called "Treble," for Billie Holiday. (Reading) This red in the ...

There's a moment on Billie ... of "Fine And Mellow . Earlier, a scene from the 1947 film New Orleans portrays an exuberant Louis Armstrong bursting with delight during "The Blues Are Brewin' while the ...

Billie Holiday would have turned 100 this week, but who’s counting? The famed jazz singer and songwriter’s voice is ageless, still luring fans with its effortless swagger and unblinking candor.

In 1959, during what would be the final months of her life, Billie Holiday was unwell. The singer—who had honed her art in the brothels of Baltimore, fronted orchestras led by Count Basie and ...