HBO premieres Bessie, a new biopic about the "Empress of the Blues," on May 16. Bessie Smith (1894-1937) was a hard-drinking, hard-loving singer-songwriter who became a musical superstar during the ...

There’s a reason Bessie Smith was known as the Empress of the Blues. Her heartfelt songs and gritty glamour introduced the sounds of African American music to large audiences in the 1920s and 30s. She ...

Through hit recordings and a busy nationwide touring schedule, the singer gave the blues a raw, regal poignancy — and marketability. Her... No blues singer can escape the influence of Bessie Smith, ...

Miche Braden stars as Bessie Smith, the legendary “Empress of the Blues,” who blazed the trail for a century of performers from Aretha Franklin to Adele. Mixing classics like “Need a Little Sugar In ...

On this day, 100 years ago, Columbia Records held a recording session with a singer named Bessie Smith. The country at large didn't know her then, but soon found out because she was launching a career ...

(ThyBlackMan.com) As the undisputed “Empress of the Blues,” Bessie Smith’s voice is a cornerstone of American music history. Her raw emotion, unwavering strength, and uncompromising style helped shape ...

Singer Bessie Smith’s recording career lasted only 10 years, but during that time she created a body of work that helped shape the sound of the 20th century. Her first single, “Downhearted Blues” — ...

Voices honoring female jazz and blues legends Billie Holiday, Phyllis Hyman, Nancy Wilson and Bessie Smith drifted through Aretha's Jazz Café, in Detroit's Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts, ...

A film clip with Bessie Smith singing in St. Louis Blues. It consists of a single reel of positive, black-and-white, 16mm acetate film with variable-area optical sound. The clip opens with Bessie ...

Bessie Smith's songs are tales of liberated women who are not afraid to speak openly about what they want, what they need and what they are tired of. How Bessie Smith Influenced A Century Of Popular ...