Featured In
ALBUMBlue Notes – A Blues Survey from 1920-1960, vol. 1 (feat. Clarence Williams' Blue Five & Little Hat Jones) - SingleBessie Smith, Texas Alexander & Mamie Smith
Albums by Bessie Smith
ALBUMMe and My GinBessie Smith
ALBUMThe Complete Recordings, Vol. 2Bessie Smith
ALBUMThe Complete Recordings, Vol. 1Bessie Smith
Artist Playlists
Bessie Smith Essentials
Enter the kingdom of the Empress of the Blues.
Inspired by Bessie Smith
Generations of blues and jazz singers have followed her trail.
Bessie Smith: Deep Cuts
The Blues Empress had endless twists on classic themes.
Artist Biography
The original tough-mama prototype for nearly every female blues singer to come, hard-living, big-voiced Bessie Smith was also the first blues singer with a mega-hit recording career, achieved in part via collaborations with some of the most notable musicians of her era. In her prime in the 1920s and 1930s, she was the highest-paid black entertainer in the U.S., and her influence persists to this day.
Hometown
Chattanooga, TN, United States
Genre
Blues