Bessie Smith | Biography, Songs, Music, Death, & Facts (2024)

American singer

verifiedCite

While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies.Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.

Select Citation Style

Feedback

Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Print

verifiedCite

While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies.Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.

Select Citation Style

Feedback

Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Also known as: Elizabeth Smith

Written and fact-checked by

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Article History

Empress of the Blues

See all media

In full:
Elizabeth Smith
Born:
April 15, 1894?, Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S.
Died:
September 26, 1937, Clarksdale, Mississippi
Awards And Honors:
Grammy Award
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (1989)

See all related content →

Top Questions

Who was Bessie Smith?

Bessie Smith was one of the greatestbluesvocalists ever. She made 160 recordings in all, in many of which she was accompanied by some of the greatjazzmusicians of the 1920s and ’30s, includingFletcher Henderson,Benny Goodman, andLouis Armstrong.

What is Bessie Smith remembered for?

Known in her lifetime as the “Empress of the Blues,” Smith was a bold, supremely confident artist who oftendisdainedthe use of a microphone and whose art expressed the frustrations and hopes of a whole generation of black Americans. She was known for her rich contralto voice and her breathtaking emotional intensity.

How did Bessie Smith become famous?

About 1913 Smith toured withMa Rainey, one of the first of the great blues singers, and afterward traveled through the Southsingingin tent shows and bars and theatres. In February 1923 she made her first recordings, including the classic “Down Hearted Blues,” which became an enormous success, selling more than two million copies.

Bessie Smith (born April 15, 1894?, Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S.—died September 26, 1937, Clarksdale, Mississippi) was an American singer and one of the greatest blues vocalists.

Smith grew up in poverty and obscurity. She may have made a first public appearance at the age of eight or nine at the Ivory Theatre in her hometown. About 1913 she toured in a show with Ma Rainey, one of the first of the great blues singers, from whom she received some training. For several years Smith traveled through the South singing in tent shows and bars and theatres in small towns and in such cities as Birmingham, Alabama; Memphis, Tennessee; and Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia. After 1920 she made her home in Philadelphia, and it was there that she was first heard by Clarence Williams, a representative of Columbia Records.

Britannica QuizPop Culture Quiz

In February 1923 Smith made her first recordings, including the classic “Down Hearted Blues,” which became an enormous success, selling more than two million copies. She made 160 recordings in all, in many of which she was accompanied by some of the great jazz musicians of the time, including Fletcher Henderson, Benny Goodman, and Louis Armstrong. Her most notable songs included “Tain’t Nobody’s Biz-ness If I Do,” “Careless Love Blues,” “Empty Bed Blues,” “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out,” and “Gimme a Pigfoot.”

Smith’s subject matter was the classic material of the blues: poverty and oppression, love—betrayed or unrequited—and stoic acceptance of defeat at the hands of a cruel and indifferent world. She was known for her rich contralto voice and her breathtaking emotional intensity. The great tragedy of her career was that she outlived the topicality of her idiom. In the late 1920s her record sales and her fame diminished with the Great Depression and as social forces changed the face of popular music and bowdlerized the earthy realism of the sentiments she expressed in her music. She struggled with alcoholism, which led to a decrease in her performances.

Known in her lifetime as the “Empress of the Blues,” Smith was a bold, supremely confident artist who often disdained the use of a microphone and whose art expressed the frustrations and hopes of a whole generation of Black Americans. She appeared in a short motion picture, St. Louis Blues (1929), since 2006 preserved in the National Film Registry of the U.S. Library of Congress. The film, based on the lyrics of the song, which Smith sings, is the only known footage of the singer and shows the emotional power of her performance. She died from injuries sustained in a car accident. She was inducted into both the Blues Hall of Fame (1980), in its inaugural class, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1989).

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Tracy Grant.

Bessie Smith | Biography, Songs, Music, Death, & Facts (2024)

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Aron Pacocha

Last Updated:

Views: 6431

Rating: 4.8 / 5 (48 voted)

Reviews: 87% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Aron Pacocha

Birthday: 1999-08-12

Address: 3808 Moen Corner, Gorczanyport, FL 67364-2074

Phone: +393457723392

Job: Retail Consultant

Hobby: Jewelry making, Cooking, Gaming, Reading, Juggling, Cabaret, Origami

Introduction: My name is Aron Pacocha, I am a happy, tasty, innocent, proud, talented, courageous, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.