Ella fitzgerald biography video of barack

Who Was Ella Fitzgerald?

Ella Fitzgerald turned to singing after a troubled childhood and debuted at the Apollo Theater in Discovered in an amateur contest, she went on to become the top female jazz singer for decades. In , Fitzgerald made history as the first African American woman to win a Grammy Award. Due in no small part to her vocal quality, with lucid intonation and a broad range, the singer would go on to win 13 Grammys in total and sell more than 40 million albums. Her multi-volume "songbooks" on Verve Records are among America's recording treasures.

Early Years

Born on April 25, , in Newport News, Virginia, singer Fitzgerald was the product of a common-law marriage between William Fitzgerald and Temperance "Tempie" Williams Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald experienced a troubled childhood that began with her parents separating shortly after her birth.

With her mother, Fitzgerald moved to Yonkers, New York. They lived there with her moth Razzies.