NINA SIMONE

Nina Simone was a black African-American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist from the 1950s to the 2000s. To make a living in the 1950s, Simone started playing piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City. She changed her name from Eunice Kathleen Waymon to Nina Simone to disguise herself from family members, having chosen to play "the devil's music". She was told in the nightclub that she would have to sing to her own accompaniment, which effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and pop. In 2018, Simone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in naming Simone the 29th-greatest singer of all time, Rolling Stone wrote that "her honey-coated, slightly adenoidal cry was one of the most affecting voices of the civil rights movement". She passed away in 2003 at the age of 70.