Bessie Smith, the greatest and most influential classic blues singer of the 1920s was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her date of birth is uncertain and is variously given as April 15, 1894-6, 1898, and 1900. The first major blues and jazz singer on record and one of the most powerful of all time, Bessie Smith rightly earned the title of "The Empress of the Blues." Her full-bodied blues delivery coupled with a remarkable self-assuredness that worked its way …
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…could precisely render a note, or "bend" a note to express her feelings. (Blueflamecafe) Bessie Smith was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. (Snow) The chances are very good that she would have made a comeback, starting with a Carnegie Hall appearance at John Hammond's upcoming From Spirituals To Swing concert. "The Empress of the Blues" will never have to abdicate her throne.