The orphaned black girl became the queen of jazz.

Her voice evoked feelings of sadness in many, reflecting on the life of a talented artist who had to endure many hardships, including racial discrimination in America.

The woman mentioned above was Ella Fitzgerald, a Black woman born in 1917 in Newport News, Virginia (USA) and raised in Yonkers, New York. Throughout her life, Ella never knew her biological father; her childhood was spent in a one-room apartment with her mother, a laundress, and her stepfather, Joseph Da Silva, a Portuguese immigrant to America.

Ella Fitzgerald (1917 - 1992)

In 1923, Ella's half-sister, Frances, was born, and the family moved to eastern Yonkers. It was there that Ella discovered her passion for music and enchanting dances.

In 1932, her mother died of a heart attack at the age of 38. Ella lived with her stepfather, and the abuse, even sexual abuse, forced her aunt to take her in to live with her in the Harlem neighborhood (a predominantly Black neighborhood).

In November 1934, Ella made her debut at the Apollo Theatre, performing two songs by Connee Boswell accompanied by Benny Carter's band. Captivated by her voice, Carter recommended Ella to another band leader, Fletcher Henderson, but he criticized her appearance and "terrible lack of hygiene," so Ella ultimately returned home disappointed.

In January 1935, luck smiled upon Ella for the first time: She was selected in an audition at the Harlem Theatre. In an article published in Metronome magazine, writer Simon Says wrote: "She knocked me out, not only by the way she sang, but also by her spirit and her leadership of the band. Miss Fitzgerald will go even further…".

That was the first article ever written about Ella, and she remembered it for the rest of her life.

In her vibrant twenties, despite not being conventionally attractive, Ella couldn't escape the clutches of love. She fell for Vido Musso, a saxophone player in the band Benny Goodman. This affair led to an abortion, and Ella became infertile afterward.

A year later, the marriage broke down, and Ella tried to suppress her disappointment so that her burgeoning music career wouldn't be negatively impacted.

In 1947, she married Ray Brown, the bass guitarist in Gillespie's band. Ray was nine years younger than Ella, but their shared passion for music fueled their love. However, Ella's infertility sometimes made their life together dull and uneventful, and in 1953, they decided to divorce.

Vido Musso, Ella Fitzgerald's first love.

From then on, Ella's health began to deteriorate. She had to undergo vocal cord surgery and was forbidden from speaking or singing for six weeks. Not long after moving into her new home in Los Angeles, she was hospitalized again for an ulcer in her lower abdomen.

Nevertheless, Ella's singing career continued to flourish. In 1960, two of her greatest albums were released: Ella in Berlin (a Grammy Award winner) and Let No Man Write My Epitaph. A year later, while on tour in Australia, Ella had to fly back to the United States to perform at a festival celebrating Senator J.F. Kennedy's election as President.

At age 44, Ella began dating a much younger Danish teenager. She bought a house in the suburbs of Copenhagen, taking on all the cooking and laundry herself. A year later, she toured the United States and Europe. Suffering from obesity nearing 50, she was exhausted from a series of performances in Germany and had to go to London to recuperate.

After recovering her health, Ella performed with Duke Ellington—a 20th-century jazz legend—appeared with him on television, visited Hungary, and was named "Woman of the Year" by the prestigious Los Angeles Times. Meanwhile, the state of California, where Los Angeles County is located, enacted strict regulations to prevent Ella from buying a home in the predominantly white Beverly Hills area!

At that time, Ella began suffering from diabetes, so severe that it damaged her eyesight. In 1985, she was hospitalized for fluid in her lungs. Later, she underwent heart surgery following a stroke. In 1992, Ella had both legs amputated and received 24/7 care. On June 15th of that year, she passed away, with no family members by her side except for the hospital's medical staff. She left behind a legacy of perseverance for future generations of artists, transforming herself from a street girl into the queen of jazz.

(Excerpt from "Everyday Lives of Famous People Around the World ," recently published by Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House)

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