Few vocalists have left the impact that Billie Holiday has on R&B and music at large. Billie’s powerful voice and poignant songs expressed the sorrow of a generation in a way that’s clawed at souls for decades, and that we still feel on her 100th birthday. Frank Sinatra called her “the greatest single musical influence on me.”
In honor of Billie’s centennial, take some time to sift through these photos from the beginning to the end of her career.
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Billie performing with a live band in 1954
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Billie performing on stage circa 1950
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Billie studio portrait circa 1954
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Billie and a friendly puppy circa 1940
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Billie studio portrait circa 1939
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Billie studio portrait circa 1939
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Billie studio portrait circa 1954
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Billie studio portrait 1955
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Billie going over ‘Symphony In Black’ with Duke Ellington in 1935
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Billie belting it out in Hamburg during a world tour in 1954
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Billie in NYC circa 1945
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Billie on stage circa 1957
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Billie in portrait circa 1935
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Billie in the spotlight circa 1954
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Billie studio portrait circa 1943
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Billie singing at the Sugar Hill in Newark, NJ circa 1957
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Billie studio portrait circa 1948
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Billie with Louis Armstrong circa 1939
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Billie at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957
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Billie, Louis Armstrong, and Barney Bigard performing circa 1947
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Billie studio portrait circa 1950
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Billie, Ben Webster, and Johnny Russell in Harlem circa 1935
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Billie walking a small dog circa 1956
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Billie on the front of a record cover for ‘God Bless’ The Child.’
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Billie in concert circa 1954
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Billie taking a turn on the saxophone
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Billie being read her rights after being busted for heroin possession circa 1947
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Billie singing at Ryan’s on 52nd Street in NYC circa 1942
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Billie and Count Basie performing together circa 1951
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Billie recording a song with a band at Commodore Records circa 1939
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Billie at The Seven Lively Arts circa 1957
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Billie recording at Decca Records circa 1946
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Billie at the mic circa 1955
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Diana Ross portraying Billie in the 1972 film ‘Lady Sings The Blues’
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Billie sitting with a dog at her feet circa 1945
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Billie with an orchid in her hair circa 1950
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Billie on stage circa 1954
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Billie fast asleep on a couch circa 1954
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Billie in a contemplative photo shoot circa 1950
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Billie studio portrait circa 1955
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Billie singing at Carnegie Hall
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Billie posing for a studio portrait in the 1950s