 A
Biography Of Ella Fitzgerald
Her first dream was to be a dancer. Growing up in
New York, she was inspired by "Snake Hips" Tucker, studying
his serpentine moves and practicing them constantly with friends.
Then, one fateful night at the Apollo Theater in 1934, the headlining
Edwards Sisters brought down the house with their dancing. Amateur
Hour began immediately after, and a 16-year-old Ella Fitzgerald
stepped on stage, but was too intimidated to dance. Instead, she
sang "Judy," silenced the awestruck crowd, and won first
prize. It was the beginning of one of the most celebrated careers
in music history.
Born in Newport News, Virginia in 1917, Ella Fitzgerald moved
with her mother to New York after the death of her father. Living
in Yonkers, Fitzgerald attended public school, where she sang
in the glee club and received her musical education. After her
early success at the Apollo, and as a popular performer at a number
of other amateur venues, Fitzgerald was invited to join Chick
Webb's band. Within a short while she was the star attraction,
and had made a number hits including her trademark "A-tisket,
A-tasket" (1938). After Webb's death in 1939, Fitzgerald
led the band for three years.
During her time with Webb's band, Fitzgerald recorded with a
number of other musicians, including Benny Goodman. By the time
she began her solo career in the mid-1940s, she was a well-respected
figure throughout the music industry. Her vibrant and energetic
voice showed an exceptional range and control. Performing with
"Jazz at the Philharmonic," her popularity grew beyond
the music world. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, she continued
to perform as a jazz musician, but concentrated primarily on popular
music. Rivaled only by Frank Sinatra, her recordings of work by
Cole Porter, Ira and George Gershwin, and Rogers and Hart were
incredibly successful.
One of the early "scat" performers, Fitzgerald found
a place among the growing jazz innovators, making recordings with
such greats as Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong.
Her true genius, however, was not formal innovation or deeper
expression, but artistic renderings of the enthusiastic songs
of her time. "I'm very shy, and I shy away from people,"
Ella once said. "But the moment I hit the stage, it's a different
feeling. I get nerve from somewhere; maybe it's because it's something
I love to do." More than anything, it is this love of performing
that won her the hearts of millions throughout the world.
By the 1970s, she was performing with a trio headed by pianist
Tommy Flanagan, and regularly with dozens of different symphony
orchestras. Though her voice was not what it had been, Fitzgerald's
enthusiasm and charisma continued to excite crowds well into the
1980s. After a successful appearance in the United Kingdom in
1990, she retired due to ailing health. Two years later President
Ronald Reagan awarded her the National Medal of Honor. Suffering
continued health problems, Fitzgerald spent the last few years
of her life in her Beverly Hills home. On June 15, 1996 she died
at the age of seventy-eight.
Of Fitzgerald, Johnny Mathis said, "She was the best there
ever was. Amongst all of us who sing, she was the best."
From those early days on Harlem streets to the upper stratosphere
of musical fame, Ella Fitzgerald's life was the quintessential
American success story. Through fifty-eight years of performing,
thirteen Grammys and more than forty million records sold, she
elevated swing, bebop, and ballads to their highest potential.
She was, undeniably, the First Lady of Song.
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