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Ella Fitzgerald was born in 1917. She was unbelievable, a fantastic pioneer and we remember her today even though she passed away in 1996. Ella Fitzgerald had a very tremulous home life as a child. Her mother died as a result of complication from a car accident and her father passed away within a year of her mother. So, Ella Fitzgerald was left alone and she was left really sort of unmonitored, her grades began to slip in school and she eventually ended getting in trouble with the police and thrown in a reform school.
Her life took a turn for the brighter sunnier side when she was 16 years old. She was in Harlem and she was at Apollo Theater, which is now legendary and she was—she put her name in a hat in order to be asked up on stage as part of a contest and her name Joan. Now, Ella Fitzgerald really wanted to go up on stage and perform, but the Edward Sisters were performing that night and they were a legendary dance troop. Now unbeknown to most people , Ella Fitzgerald was a dancer, but she was so scared to go up against the Edward Sisters that she decided to do something completely crazy, to sing.
And there you have it, a legend was born. Now, Ella’s own solo career didn’t start until 1941. She built her way up by doing collaborations with a lot of wonderful people. She is best known for her collaborations with for example Charlie Parker. You might remember the song Lullaby of Birdland, and she is also known along with Frank Sinatra for really recording at the American Songbook of the early 20th century.
So Ella Fitzgerald was really—she was also a pioneer because we need to remember that she was an African-American, and so, especially at that time in the United States, everything that she did, you know, multifield the difficulty by two just because she had that additional barrier to brake through. Among her list of accomplishments, Ella was given an American medal by the president of the United States at the time of George Bush, the first, and she also received a whopping 13 Grammy’s during her wonderful career.
Ella actually passed away in 1996. She had been battling diabetes for a long time and she actually had both her legs amputated in 1993 and later lost her sight. Btu she never gave up her spirit and when she passed away at her home in 1996 in California, she was just as vivacious and wonderful as ever. And that’s why Ella Fitzgerald is a woman with mojo.
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