Bessie Smith

E56866

Bessie Smith was a pioneering American blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s, celebrated as the "Empress of the Blues" for her powerful voice and influential recordings.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
Bessie Smith canonical 45
Bessie Smith recordings 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf African-American musician
blues singer
human
recording artist
activeYearsEnd 1930s
activeYearsStart 1910s
burialPlace Mount Lawn Cemetery, Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania, United States
causeOfDeath injuries from automobile accident
countryOfCitizenship United States of America
dateOfBirth 1894-04-15
dateOfDeath 1937-09-26
ethnicGroup Black Americans
surface form: African American
familyName Smith
featuredInFilm St. Louis Blues (1929 short film)
fieldOfWork blues music
music
fullName Bessie Smith self-link
genre blues
jazz
givenName Bessie
honor inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame
inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Early Influence)
influenced Aretha Franklin
Billie Holiday
Janis Joplin
Mahalia Jackson
mannerOfDeath traffic collision
marriageStart 1923
movement classic female blues
nickname Empress of the Blues
notableAchievement best-selling blues singer of the 1920s
pioneer of recorded blues
notableWork Backwater Blues
Downhearted Blues
Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer)
Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out
St. Louis Blues
Tain’t Nobody’s Biz-ness If I Do
occupation blues singer
singer
vaudeville performer
performedWith Fletcher Henderson
Louis Armstrong
placeOfBirth Chattanooga
surface form: Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States
placeOfDeath Clarksdale, Mississippi, United States
recordLabel Columbia Records
sexOrGender female
spouse Jack Gee
voiceType contralto

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (46)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Harlem Renaissance notablePerson Bessie Smith
Okeh Records hasNotableArtist Bessie Smith
Blues Hall of Fame notableInductee Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith fullName Bessie Smith self-link
Janis Joplin influencedBy Bessie Smith
After You've Gone hasPerformer Bessie Smith
Clarence Williams associatedWith Bessie Smith
W. C. Handy’s “Saint Louis Blues” hasNotableRecordingArtist Bessie Smith
subject surface form: Saint Louis Blues
Ma Rainey influenced Bessie Smith
Ma Rainey performedWith Bessie Smith
Madeleine Peyroux influencedBy Bessie Smith
Bessie associatedWith Bessie Smith
Bessie notableBearer Bessie Smith
Empress of the Blues refersTo Bessie Smith
Empress of the Blues appliedTo Bessie Smith
Empress of the Blues honorificFor Bessie Smith
Empress of the Blues usedAsMarketingLabelFor Bessie Smith
this entity surface form: Bessie Smith recordings
Downhearted Blues performer Bessie Smith
Downhearted Blues vocalist Bessie Smith
Downhearted Blues recordedBy Bessie Smith
Backwater Blues composer Bessie Smith
Backwater Blues lyricist Bessie Smith
Backwater Blues performer Bessie Smith
Backwater Blues vocalist Bessie Smith
Backwater Blues recordedBy Bessie Smith
Jack Gee spouse Bessie Smith
Jack Gee managedArtist Bessie Smith
Jack Gee partnerInCareerOf Bessie Smith