She became an international legend during a career that spanned some six decades. Her many subsequent recordings showcased the wide range and sweetness of her voice and made her one of the best-selling jazz vocal recording artists in history. She also recorded prolifically. During much of her early career she had been noted for singing and recording novelty songs. Her status rose dramatically in the s when jazz impresario Norman Granz became her manager. Although her diction was excellent, her rendition of lyrics was intuitive rather than studied. She also recorded a number of live concert albums and produced a notable duet version of Porgy and Bess with Armstrong. During the s she began to experience serious health problems, but she continued to perform periodically, even after heart surgery in In , however, her career was curtailed following complications stemming from diabetes, which resulted in the amputation of both her legs below the knees. She was an excellent ballad singer, conveying a winsome, ingenuous quality.
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She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, intonation , and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing. After a tumultuous adolescence, Fitzgerald found stability in musical success with the Chick Webb Orchestra, performing across the country but most often associated with the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. Her rendition of the nursery rhyme " A-Tisket, A-Tasket " helped boost both her and Webb to national fame. After taking over the band when Webb died, Fitzgerald left it behind in to start her solo career. Her manager was Moe Gale, co-founder of the Savoy, [1] until she turned the rest of her career over to Norman Granz , who founded Verve Records to produce new records by Fitzgerald. With Verve she recorded some of her more widely noted works, particularly her interpretations of the Great American Songbook. While Fitzgerald appeared in movies and as a guest on popular television shows in the second half of the twentieth century, her musical collaborations with Louis Armstrong , Duke Ellington , and The Ink Spots were some of her most notable acts outside of her solo career. In , after a career of nearly 60 years, she gave her last public performance.
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We and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests, and for measurement and analytics purposes. By using our website and our services, you agree to our use of cookies as described in our Cookie Policy. Recognized worldwide as "The First Lady of Song," Ella Fitzgerald is arguably the finest female jazz vocalist of all time. Blessed with a highly resonant voice, wide range, and near-perfect elocution, Fitzgerald also possessed a deft sense of swing, and with her brilliant scat technique, could hold her own against any of her instrumental contemporaries. She came to initial popularity as a member of drummer Chick Webb 's band in the s, scoring a hit with a "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," before ascending to wide acclaim in the s with Jazz at the Philharmonic and Dizzy Gillespie 's Big Band, and issuing landmark performances like "Flying Home" and "How High the Moon. Over her year career, she earned 13 Grammy Awards, sold over 40 million albums, and picked up numerous accolades including a National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Discovered in an amateur contest, she went on to become the top female jazz singer for decades. Due in no small part to her vocal quality, with lucid intonation and a broad range, the singer would go on to win 13 Grammys in total and sell more than 40 million albums. Her multi-volume "songbooks" on Verve Records are among America's recording treasures. Fitzgerald experienced a troubled childhood that began with her parents separating shortly after her birth. With her mother, Fitzgerald moved to Yonkers, New York. They lived there with her mother's boyfriend, Joseph Da Silva. The family grew in with the arrival of Fitzgerald's half-sister Frances. Struggling financially, the young Fitzgerald helped her family out by working as a messenger "running numbers" and acting as a lookout for a brothel. Her first career aspiration was to become a dancer.
