For two decades, from her signing with Columbia Records in 1923, to her death in a car accident in 1937 at age 43, for a time ...

Cited as one of the first representations of black queer popular culture, Ma Rainey's sensational Prove It on Me Blues is a ...

Bessie Smith struggled through hardship for decades, but her future was finally looking bright—until, in one tragic moment, ...

By the summer of 1927, Bessie Smith, the “Empress of the Blues” herself, was enjoying a high-riding career when her personal traveling tour railroad car pulled into Concord. Smith was ...

All About Jazz is celebrating Bessie Smith's birthday today! “Empress of the Blues” She embodied the meaning of the blues, living the life she sang about. Bessie Smith set the standard for blues ...

Smith grew up in poverty and obscurity and truly experienced a wretched childhood. In order to make ends meet, Bessie and her brother Andrew started busking on the streets of Chattanooga.

Her Story: Bessie Smith’s story deserves to be told. The Chattanooga, Tennessee native was orphaned at 9, suffered and survived poverty and abuse, ...

Bessie Smith, Empress of the Blues, was the first African American superstar, an artist that mingled regal dignity with sensuality. We’ll sample her recorded legacy, talk with critics and hear ...

Opinion: Archaeologists, Bessie Smith Center seek more information on Steele Home, children it served. February 3, 2024 at 12:01 p.m. by Clint Cooper ...

Staff photo by Olivia Ross / Rick Rushing & The Blues Strangers perform on stage. The Bessie Smith Cultural Center hosts Big 9 Roots Festival, a two-day music festival, on Saturday, April 15, 2023.

Bessie Smith spent an eventful night in Concord in 1927, when she stood up to several Klan members. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection, [reproduction ...

The Bessie Smith Cultural Center announces the return of the Bessie Smith’s Big 9 Music Fest, taking place on Saturday, April 13, and Sunday, April 14. The festival will be held along the 200 ...