Nina Simone, whose real name was Eunice Waymon, was an American singer who was born on February 21, 1933, in Tryon, North Carolina and passed away on April 21, 2003, in Carry-le-Rouet, France. She was known for her dramatic singing style and rough-edged voice, which she used to sing songs about love, protest, and Black empowerment.
Simone was a girl who played the piano and the organ as a precocious child. When she was 12 years old, she gave a piano recital in a library. Her parents had to stand in the back because they were Black, so she became sensitive to racism. She began her career as a pianist after enrolling at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, where she studied classical music. In 1954, the owner of a nightclub in Atlantic City, New Jersey, threatened to fire her unless she sang along. This sparked her vocal career. Her first album featured her unique takes on jazz and cabaret standards, including the 1959 hit song “I Loves You, Porgy.”
