Ella Fitzgerald

The First Lady of Song

Facts

• Born: 1917
• Country: United States
• Field: Music
• Era: Golden Age

Overview

Newport News born singer who won an amateur night at the Apollo Theater in 1934 and joined the Chick Webb band, scoring a hit with A-Tisket, A-Tasket in 1938. Her Song Book albums for Verve, beginning with Cole Porter in 1956, set the standard for the Great American Songbook, and her scat improvising rivaled horn players. She won 13 Grammy Awards across her career.