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Showing posts from April 24, 2013

Ella Fitzgerald's 96th birthday marked by Google doodle

Ella Fitzgerald is the inspiration behind Thursday's Google doodle. Fitzgerald is famously known as "Queen of Jazz", "The First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella". Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Virginia, but her parents separated shortly after her birth, and she moved to New York with her mother. Ella made her singing debut at 17, at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York, and started getting a loyal following. After winning a local talent contest, she got the chance to perform for a week with the Tiny Bradshaw band at the Harlem Opera House. There, she met drummer and bandleader Chick Webb, who offered her the opportunity to test with his band when they played a dance at Yale University. Ella Fitzgerald became a regular feature in Webb's Orchestra and recorded several hit songs with them, including  Love and Kisses  and  (If You Can't Sing It) You'll Have to Swing It (Mr. Paganini) . Her 1938 version of the nursery rhyme,  A