Billie Holiday Timeline - The Official Website of Billie Holiday (2024)

Apr 07

Billie Holiday is Born April 7, Born in Philadelphia, Penn.

Nov 02

Holiday appears in various Harlem clubs with singer Laurence Jackson

Nov 02

Holiday cuts her first records at the age of 18

- Hammond organizes her first commercial recording session with Benny Goodman

Nov 02

Signed to Brunswick Records by John Hammond

- Begins collaborations with Teddy Wilson - Stars alongside Duke Ellington in the film "Symphony in Black"

Nov 02

Releases “Summertime” from “Porgy and Bess”

Nov 02

Receives the nickname “Lady Day” from sax player Lester Young

- She teams with the Count Basie Orchestra

Nov 02

She teams with Artie Shaw becoming the first black woman to work with a white orchestra

Nov 02

Debut performance of “Strange Fruit” at Café Society, New York’s first integrated nightclub

- Records her first major session at Commodore

Nov 02

Billie co-writes and records the legendary “God Bless The Child”

Nov 02

Holiday signs with Decca Records

Nov 02

“Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be)”, written specifically for Billie, becomes her highest charted Pop hit to date, peaking at #16.

- Billie Holiday writes and records "Don’t Explain" - Esquire Magazine Gold Award for Best Leading Female Vocalist

Nov 02

Performs at Carnegie Hall to a sold out crowd

- The Broadway show "Holiday on Broadway" begins a three week run

Nov 02

“Crazy He Calls Me” single is released

Nov 02

Appears in the short film “Sugar Chile Robinson, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and His Sextet”

Nov 02

Her first two long play studio albums are released for Norman Granz’s Clef Records, “Billie Holiday Sings” and “An Evening with Billie Holiday”

Nov 02

Appears on the ABC reality series “The Comeback Story”

Nov 02

Billie releases her next full length album, “Billie Holiday”, for Clef Records

- She tours Europe

Nov 02

Her full length album, “Music for Torching”, is released for Clef Records

- Make her first appearance on The Tonight Show, hosted by Steve Allen

Nov 02

Her “Velvet Mood: Songs By Billie Holiday” album is released

- "Lady Sings The Blues" marks the last album for Clef Records - Her autobiography, "Lady Sings The Blues", is published by Doubleday - Performs two sold shows at Carnegie Hall

Nov 02

Her “Body and Soul” and “Songs For Distingue Lovers” full length albums are released on Norman Granz’s new Verve Records

Nov 02

Norman Granz releases his last records with Billie, “Stay With Me” and “All or Nothing At All”

- Working with the Ray Ellis Orchestra, Billie makes her album debut on Columbia Records with "Lady In Satin"

Nov 02

Holiday completes her final album, “Billie Holiday”, retitled “Last Recordings” with MGM

- Holiday gives her final performance in New York City. - July 17, Holiday dies in New York City and is buried at Saint Raymond’s Cemetery in Bronx County, NY.

Nov 02

Live recordings from her last Carnegie Hall appearance are released as “The Essential Billie Holiday”

Nov 02

Nina Simone records her version of “Strange Fruit”

Nov 02

Diana Ross stars as Holiday in the film “Lady Sings the Blues”

Nov 02

“God Bless The Child” single inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame

Nov 02

“Strange Fruit” single inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame

Nov 02

“Billie Holiday – Giants of Jazz” wins a Grammy Award for Best Historical Album

Feb 11

The city of Baltimore honors Billie Holiday with her first statue

Feb 11

Billie Holiday is posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award

Feb 11

U2 releases the Billie Holiday tribute song “Angel of Harlem”

Feb 11

“Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)” single inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame

Feb 11

Billie Holiday – The Complete Decca Recordings” wins a Grammy Award for Best Historical Album

– Miki Howard stars as Billie Holiday in a club scene in “Malcolm X”

Feb 11

On September 18, 1994, the United States Postal Service honored Holiday by introducing a USPS-sponsored stamp

– Etta James receives first Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for her “Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday” album – “The Complete Billie Holiday” wins a Grammy Award for Best Historical Album

Feb 11

Inducted into the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame

Feb 11

Time Magazine declares “Strange Fruit” the Song of the Century

– Ranked #6 on VH1’s “100 Greatest Women In Rock n’ Roll”

Feb 11

“Lady In Satin” album inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame

– Billie Holiday is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the fifteenth annual induction dinner. Diana Ross is her presenter.

Feb 11

“Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday” wins a Grammy Award for Best Historical Album

– “Strange Fruit” honored by the Library of Congress as one of the 50 songs that year to be added to the National Recording Registry

Feb 11

Billie Holiday is inducted into the Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame

Feb 11

“Embraceable You” single inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame

Feb 11

“Crazy He Calls Me” single inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame

Feb 11

Billie Holiday inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame

Feb 11

“Lady Day The Musical” opens for preview performances at Times Square’s Little Shubert Theatre starring multiple-Grammy Award winner Dee Dee Bridgewater

– Kanye West samples Nina Simone’s version of “Strange Fruit”

Feb 11

April 6th, Billie is inducted into The Apollo Theater’s Walk of Fame

Two-time Grammy winner Cassandra Wilson presents the plaque as Lady Day joins other legends including Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown and Louis Armstrong.

Feb 11

Author John Szwed wins Jazz Journalists Association “2016 Jazz Book of the Year” for Billie Holiday: The Musician and the Myth

Dec 04

The documentary Billie is released in theatres and on streaming platforms

On December 4, 2020, the documentary Billie was released in theatres and on streaming platforms. Written and directed byJames Erskine, the film is based around interviews recorded on audio cassettes through the 1970s byLinda Lipnack Kuehl. The interviews feature the first-hand recollections of Lady Day’s friends, family members, band members,