b. 21st February 1933, Tyron, North Carolina, U.S.A.
d. 21st April 2003, France.
Nina Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina, in 1933, one of eight children.
She sang in church from infancy and began playing the piano at the age of two.
Nina studied at the Juilliard Conservatory in New York where she intended to pursue a career as a concert pianist, however, the need to earn a living led her to becoming a night-club accompanist.
Before long, she was an attraction in her own right.
A concert at New York's town hall in 1959 when she secured a hit with an her individual interpretation of George Gershwin's 'I Loves You Porgy'.
Her 1960's work included 'Gin House Blues', 'Forbidden Fruit' and 'I Put A Spell On You', while another of her singles, 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood', was later covered by the Animals.
The singer's popular fortune gained following upon her signing with RCA.
'Ain't Got No, I Got Life', a song featured in the musical 'Hair', became a U.K. number 2, while her version of the Bee Gees', 'To Love Somebody' reached number 5 in the charts.
Nina's involvement with the civil rights movement provided the material for many of her songs such as 'Mississippi Goddam', 'Backlash Blues', 'Four Women', and 'To be 'Young, Gifted and Black'.
The song became an anthem of the movement and was dedicated to her late friend, the playwright Lorraine Harisberry.
Many of the civil rights activists she became friends with included the Black Muslim leader, Louis Farrakhan, the singer, Miriam Makeba, the Black Panther activist, Stokely Carmichael, and the writer, James Baldwin.
Nina's appearances were increasingly focused on benefits and rallies.
A surprise hit, 'My Baby Just Cares For Me', moved her back into the commercial spotlight when it reached number 5 in 1987after it was utilised in a television advertisement for Chanel No 5 perfume.
Tired of an America, which she saw as becoming an uncaring environment, she relocated to France.
Nina Simone died on the 21st of April 2003, after a long illness at her home in Southern France. She was 70.
Nina's real legacy lay in her influence on subsequent generations of women singers.
The likes of Erykah Badu, Cassandra Wilson and Alicia Keys are among the many who benefited from the example of her fusion of blues, soul, jazz, folk and pop, as well as her uncompromising stance against racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination.
Albums:
Little Girl Blue (Bethlehem 1959)
Nina Simone And Her Friends (Bethlehem 1959)
The Amazing Nina Simone (Colpix 1959)
Nina Simone At The Town Hall (Colpix 1959)
Nina Simone At Newport (Colpix 1960)
Forbidden Fruit (Colpix 1961)
Nina Simone At The Village Gate (Colpix 1961)
Nina Simone Sings Ellington (Colpix 1962)
Nina's Choice (Colpix 1963)
Nina Simone At Carnegie Hall (Colpix 1963)
Folksy Nina (Colpix 1964)
Nina Simone In Concert (Philips 1964)
Broadway ... Blues ... Ballads (Philips 1964)
I Put A Spell On You (Philips 1965)
Tell Me More (1965)
Pastel Blues (Philips 1965)
Let It All Out (Philips 1966)
Wild Is The Wind (Philips 1966)
Nina With Strings (Colpix 1966)
This Is (1966)
The High Priestess Of Soul (Philips 1966)
Nina Simone Sings The Blues (RCA Victor 1967)
Sweet 'N Swinging (1967)
Silk And Soul (RCA Victor 1967)
Nuff Said (RCA Victor 1968)
And Piano! (1969)
To Love Somebody (1969)
Black Gold (RCA 1970)
Here Comes The Sun (RCA 1971)
Heart And Soul (1971)
Emergency Ward (RCA 1972)
It Is Finished? (RCA 1972)
Gifted And Black (Mojo 1974)
I Loves You Porgy (1977)
Baltimore (CTI 1978)
Cry Before I Go (Manhattan 1980)
Nina Simone (Dakota 1982)
Fodder On My Wings (IMS 1982)
Nina's Back (VPI 1986)
Live At Vine Street (Verve 1987)
Live At Ronnie Scott's (Windham Hill 1988)
Live (Zeta 1990)
The Blues (Novus/RCA 1991)
In Concert (1992)
A Single Woman (1993)
The Great Show Of Nina Simone: Live In Paris (Accord 1996)
