Bessie Smith was a well-known blues performer in the United States during the Jazz Age (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937). She was the most well-known female blues singer of the 1930s and was dubbed the “Empress of the Blues.” She was one of the most influential blues singers of her time and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. She is frequently cited as one of the greatest singers of her time.
Smith was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and when her parents died when she was young, she and her six siblings survived by performing on street corners. She began touring with a group that included Ma Rainey before venturing out on her own. Her successful recording career with Columbia Records began in 1923, but her performing career was cut short when she was 43 years old in a car accident.
Smith began performing her own act at Atlanta’s “81” Theater in 1913. By 1920, she had made a name for herself in the South and along the East Coast. Sales of over 100,000 copies of “Crazy Blues,” recorded for Okeh Records by singer Mamie Smith (no relation), pointed to a new market at the time. The recording industry had not targeted black people with its product, but the success of the record prompted a search for female blues singers.
Who inherited Bessie Smith’s money and estate?
In 1979, Jack Gee Jr., Bessie Smith’s estranged husband’s son, filed an appeal with the Pennsylvania Court of Appeals. Mr. Gee Jr., the heir to his father’s estate and, by default, the legal heir to Bessie Smith’s estate, filed an appeal and filed five claims against CBS Records, which had purchased Columbia Records.
