2027 Marks the 90th Year of Bessie Smith’s Passing
Bessie Smith was one of the most influential blues singers of the 1920s and is widely known as the “Empress of the Blues.” Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1894, she became one of the highest-paid Black entertainers of her era and recorded more than 150 songs during her career. Her powerful, expressive voice helped bring the blues to a national audience, with recordings such as “Downhearted Blues,” “St. Louis Blues,” “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out,” and “Backwater Blues.” She worked with prominent musicians including Louis Armstrong and helped establish the blues as an important part of American popular music. Although her life was cut short in 1937, Bessie Smith’s recordings continued to influence generations of singers, and in 1989 she received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously.
Celebrate in 2027!
“See that long lonesome road, Lord, you know it’s gotta end.”-Bessie Smith, Young Woman’s Blues, 1926
Calling all musicians, artists, historians, writers and Blues music connoisseurs- if you would like to contribute to Bessie Smith’s Days in 2027 please email Friends of Mount Lawn at: helpmt.lawn@gmail.com
