Her life in stories
Who was Ella?
Despite her worldwide fame, the First Lady of Song remained a mystery to many. A few of the stories we tell on stage:
1917: Newport News, Virginia
Ella Jane Fitzgerald is born on 25 April. She grows up in Yonkers, New York — and dreams of becoming a dancer.
1934: Amateur Night at the Apollo
At seventeen she steps onto the stage of Harlem's Apollo Theater to dance — and freezes. So she sings instead. She wins first prize.
1938: A-Tisket, A-Tasket
With Chick Webb and his orchestra she turns a nursery rhyme into a hit that goes straight to the top of the charts.
1955: A friend called Marilyn
Marilyn Monroe calls a Hollywood nightclub: if they book Ella, she will sit at the front table every night. They do — and Ella never has to play a small club again.
1956: The Songbooks
With producer Norman Granz she begins her legendary Songbook series — Cole Porter, Gershwin, Ellington, Berlin and many more.
1959: The very first Grammys
Ella wins two of them — the first African American woman ever to win a Grammy.
1996: The First Lady of Song
Ella dies on 15 June in Beverly Hills. She leaves 13 Grammys, more than 200 albums and a voice the world still recognizes after a single note.