Bessie Smith was an American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age and was nicknamed the “Empress of the Blues”. She was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s.
Bessie Smith was born on April 15, 1894, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S., and had a great time in her career but it ended too soon when she died on September 26, 1937 (aged 43), in Clarksdale, Mississippi, U.S.
Was Bessie Smith the highest-paid black performer?
Bessie Smith was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, was often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era, and was a major influence on fellow blues singers, as well as jazz vocalists.
Bessie was the highest-paid Black performing artist in the country. She earned almost $2,000 per week from singing at top theatres. Bessie’s primary source of income and fame came through endless traveling. Her recordings were so popular that more theaters and clubs wanted to book her.
