Ella Fitzgerald was the queen of Jazz and song vocalist who won 13 Grammy awards and sold over 40 million albums worldwide. Her career spanned some six decades, and she is often referred to as “First Lady of Song.” Ella had a troubled childhood that began with her parents separating shortly after her birth. Initially, she wanted to become a dancer, but her first singing debut at Harlem’s Apollo Theater changed her passion. She sang the Hoagy Carmichael tune “Judy” and “The Object of My Affection” at the contents and won the first prize. After that, Fitzgerald joined Chick Web’s Orchestra and performed across the county. She recorded her first song, “Love and Kisses,” with the Webb in 1935. And in 1938, she released her first superhit “A-Tisket, A-Tasket,” which made her and Webb national star. Later that year, Fitzgerald recorded her second hit, “I Found My Yellow Basket.” Following Webb’s death in 1939, Fitzgerald became the leader of the band, but she left the band in 1942 and started her solo journey.
In the early 1940s, she recorded some song with Decca Records, and later she rose to fame when jazz impresario Norman Granz (founder of Verve Records) became her manager. During much of her early career, she had been noted for singing Novelty song, and later she incorporated scat singing. Around this time, Fitzgerald went on tour with Dizzy Gillespie and his band. In the 1950s and 1960s, she recorded multi-volume “songbooks” and superhit albums. In 1958, she became the first African-American woman to win a Grammy award. The journey continued throughout the 1970s and 1980s; she toured across the globe. Ella Fitzgerald was also Marilyn Monroe‘s favorite singer. They became friend and Monroe used her status as a Hollywood star to boost Fitzgerald’s career.
In 1941 Fitzgerald married a convicted drug dealer and hustler, Ben Kornegay. The wedding was annulled in 1942. She later fell in love with Gillespie’s bass player Ray Brown and the couple married in 1947. They also adopted a child born to Fitzgerald’s sister. The couple divorced in 1953.
During the 1970s, Fitzgerald began to experience serious health problems, and she had heart surgery in 1986. She also had chronic diabetes, which left her blind, and both of her legs were amputated in 1994. Fitzgerald made her last recording in 1991 and her last public performances in 1993. On June 15, 1996, Ella Fitzgerald died at the age of 79 from a stroke.
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