Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
photo by Carl Van Vechten, 1940
Background information
Birth name
Ella Jane Fitzgerald
Also known
as
First Lady of Song; Lady Ella
Born
April 25, 1917(1917-04-25)
Newport News, Virginia, U.S.
Died
June 15, 1996 (aged 79)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Genre(s)
Ballads, swing, traditional pop,
vocal jazz
Occupation(s) Vocalist
Years active
1934-1993
Label(s)
Capitol, Decca, Pablo, Reprise,
Verve
Website
www.EllaFitzgerald.com
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June
15, 1996), also known as "Lady Ella" and the
"First Lady of Song", is considered one of the
most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th cen-
tury.[1]
With a vocal
range spanning
three
octaves, she was noted for her purity of tone,
phrasing and intonation, and a "horn-like" im-
provisational ability, particularly in her scat
singing. She is widely considered to have
been one of the supreme interpreters of the
Great American Songbook. [2]
Over a recording career that lasted 59
years, she was the winner of 13 Grammy
Awards, and was awarded the National
Medal of Art by Ronald Reagan and the Pres-
idential Medal of Freedom by George H. W.
Bush.
Early Life
Ella Jane Fitzgerald was born in Newport
News, Virginia, the child of a common-law
marriage between William and Temperance
"Tempie" Fitzgerald.[3] The pair separated
soon after her birth and she and her mother
moved to Yonkers, New York, with Tempie’s
boyfriend, Joseph Da Silva. Fitzgerald’s half-
sister, Frances Da Silva, was born in 1923.
As a child, Fitzgerald was placed in the Co-
lored Orphan Asylum in Riverdale,
the
Bronx.[4]
In her youth, she wanted to be a dancer,
although she loved listening to jazz record-
ings by Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby and
The Boswell Sisters. She idolized the lead
singer Connee Boswell,
later saying, "My
mother brought home one of her records, and
I fell in love with it....I tried so hard to sound
just like her."[5]
In 1932, her mother died from a heart at-
tack [3]. Following these traumas, Fitzger-
ald’s grades dropped dramatically, a