It is no easy feat to make truly timeless music. Even wildly successful musicians are often inextricably tied to the era in which they came of age, whether it’s a case of their sound influencing their time, or vice versa.
I can think of very few 21st century musicians who truly stand the test of time: the Beatles, the Fugees, maybe the Talking Heads. But Billie Holiday is, without question, the most timeless musician I can think of.
With any luck, her raspy purr, her signature style, and her thoughtful lyrics will preserve the charm of her music ad infinitum. Certainly, they’ve kept since her heyday in the ‘40s and ‘50s.
Her remarkable and poignant "God Bless The Child," inspired by Holiday’s fraught relationship with her mother, is a song for the ages. ‘Strange Fruit,’ one of the first Civil Rights protest songs, is as relevant today as it was sixty years ago.
She continues to influence the musicians that came after her, casting a spell on everyone from Nina Simone to Lady Gaga. And it’s not hard to see why after watching this incredible bluesy-jazz collaboration with Louis Armstrong. Holiday, along with contemporary virtuosos like Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, laid the groundwork for decades of jazz, soul, and R&B.
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