Ella Jane Fitzgerald, one of the most celebrated jazz singers of all time, is often referred to as the First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz, and Lady Ella.

With a storied and celebrated career of over 60 years, she was best known for her purity of tone, impeccable phrasing, and perhaps most mind-blowing, a horn-like improvisational ability to scat.

Having lived through childhood trauma of loss, abuse, and eventual homelessness, she took to the streets of Harlem to sing. The legendary Apollo Theater extended the offer for her amateur singing debut. In a surprise to no one, she won first prize: 25 bucks and also the chance to perform at the Apollo for a week. But seemingly because of her disheveled appearance, the theater never gave her that prize.

Ella Fitzgerald was a musician's singer. Every band she sang with including Chick Webb, Duke Ellington, and later Count Basie viewed her as a fellow seasoned musician and not just a singer.

Critically, it's been said over and over that with her unique interpretations of famous songbooks and crossover appeal as a Black woman popularizing urban songs written frequently by immigrant Jews, sometimes for predominantly white audiences, she did as much in musical history as anyone to bring cultures and races together.

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