| Nina Simone |
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BIOGRAPHY Youth Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon at 30 East Livingston Street in Tryon, North Carolina , one of eight children. Like a number of other African-American singers, she was inspired as a child by Marian Anderson and began singing at her local church, also showing prodigious talent as a pianist. When she debuted publicly at a piano recital at age ten, her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for whites. This incident contributed to her later involvement in the Civil Rights movement. At seventeen, Simone moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , where she taught Piano and accompanied singers. She was able to begin studying piano at New York City 's prestigious Juilliard School Of Music , thanks to the sponsorship of benefactors, but lack of funds meant that she was unable to fulfill her dream of becoming America's first African-American concert pianist. She later had an interview to study piano at the Curtis Institute , but was rejected. Simone believed it was because she was black. First success Simone turned instead to blues and jazz after getting her start in an Atlantic City nightclub, taking the name Nina Simone in 1954 - "Nina" was her boyfriend's nickname for her (from the Spanish for "little girl"), and "Simone" was after the French actress Simone Signoret . She first came to public notice in 1959 with her wrenching rendition of George Gershwin 's "I Loves You Porgy" (from '' Porgy And Bess ''), her only Top 40 hit in the United States . This was soon followed by the single "My Baby Just Cares for Me" (this was also a hit in the 1980s in the United Kingdom when used for Television Advertisement s for Chanel No. 5 perfume). Civil rights Throughout the 1960s , Simone was involved in the civil rights movement and recorded a number of political songs, including "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" (later covered by Aretha Franklin and Donny Hathaway ), "Backlash Blues," "Mississippi Goddam" (a response to the murder of Medgar Evers and the Bombing Of A Church in Birmingham, Alabama killing four black children), "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free," and Kurt Weill 's "Pirate Jenny," set in a southern hotel. Greatest hits In ". Throughout most of her career she was accompanied by Guitarist and musical director Al Shackman . Later life In 1971 , Simone left the United States following disagreements with Agent s, Record Label s, and the tax authorities, citing Racism as the reason. She returned in 1978 and was arrested for Tax Evasion (she had withheld several years of Income Tax as a protest against the Vietnam War ). She lived in various countries in the Caribbean , Africa , and Europe , continuing to perform into her 60s. In the 1980s, she performed regularly at Ronnie Scott 's jazz club in London. In 1995 , Simone purportedly shot and wounded her neighbour's son with a Pneumatic Pistol after his laughing disturbed her concentration. She also fired at a record company executive whom she accused of stealing royalties (see {Link without Title} ). She had a reputation in the music industry for being volatile and sometimes difficult to deal with, a characterization with which Simone strenuously took issue. Though her onstage style could be somewhat haughty and aloof, in later years Simone particularly seemed to enjoy engaging her adoring audiences by recounting sometimes humorous anecdotes related to her career and music and soliciting requests. Simone's regal bearing and commanding stage presence earned her the title the "High Priestess of Soul." Her daughter, an actress/singer known only as Simone, has appeared on Broadway in '' Aida ''. Simone's autobiography ''I Put a Spell on You'' (ISBN 0306805251) was published in 1992 . In 1993 , she settled near Aix-en-Provence in the south of France . She had been ill with cancer for several years before she died in 2003, aged 70, in her sleep at her home in Carry-le-Rouet . Her music continues to be featured in motion picture Soundtrack s, including the 1993 film '' Point Of No Return '' (aka '' The Assassin ''), '' The Thomas Crown Affair '', 2002's '' The Bourne Identity '', and 2004's '' Cellular ''. Her music is also used in '' Shallow Grave '' and at the end of '' Before Sunset ''. Also, the song "Feeling Good" was recently used in a Sky Movies advert. QUOTATION
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