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The Black contralto put European art music and African-American spirituals in parity — and in her art, paved the way for generations of singers after her, both inside and outside classical music.
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Though best remembered for her 1939 performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Anderson's career was more than one moment. Hear some of her best recordings, plus songs by those she influenced.
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Farah Jasmine Griffin's 2001 book on Billie Holiday posed a challenge to biographers and our understanding of Holiday. Here, she reflects on her changing connection to Lady Day since its release.
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NPR Music is paying tribute to eight women who stand as pillars of American music. Throughline, NPR's history podcast, takes a look at Billie Holiday's life and influence.
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The only place Billie Holiday received vocal instruction also gave her bad-girl cred and an ambitious spiritual discipline. It was The House of the Good Shepherd for Colored Girls, a Catholic convent.
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Jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater offers a playlist of Billie Holiday's greatest songs paired with versions performed by other artists.
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There really was no precedent for Maybelle Carter, who learned to play from her own mother and spent much of her life teaching her children — as well as generations of country stars that followed.
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We rarely place Mendoza and Carter, both great guitarists and lead vocalists in family bands, in conversation — though listeners to border radio stations in the late 1930s were often fans of both.
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Maybelle Carter's guitar innovation helped revolutionize the way the instrument is played. Watch Americana singer-songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews show you how it's done.
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Her musical career began in childhood. She witnessed the dawn of the recording era and helped create country music as one of the genre's biggest acts. But Maybelle Carter never stopped working.