The United States vs Billie Holiday: What happened to jazz singer Billie Holiday?

Billie Holiday was one of the most prominent Jazz singers who was well renowned for her spectacular voice. Her real name was Eleanora Fagan and she had a long career of over 20 years. She was nicknamed Lady Day and had several sold-out shows during her prime. Here is what happened to Billie Holiday during her final years.

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What happened to Jazz singer Billie Holiday? 

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Billie Holiday passed away in July of 1959 aged 44 due to cirrhosis of the liver. According to news portal Medium, at the time of her death, Billie Holiday had $750 strapped to her leg and had $0.70 in her bank account. She died without a will. Billie Holiday was born in Philadelphia and endured a turbulent childhood as she grew up. She eventually began her career by singing in nightclubs around Manhattan. However, she faced immense trouble at the time which kept her tied in legal troubles. Personally too, she suffered from alcoholism and drug abuse which went on to affect her voice and her reputation. Eventually, Billie Holiday saw her downfall as her voice began to be severely affected by her harmful ways of living. Her popularity deteriorated over time and thus she went out of the public eye.

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Billie Holiday was known as one of the musical greats as she was able to deliver spectacular vocals. She was also known for her phenomenal improvisation skills. Billie was also known for her seminal influence on jazz music and pop singing alike. Her style of singing was strongly inspired by jazz instruments and paved the way for phrasing and tempo in the musical spectrum at the time. Billie Holiday also suffered a bad personal life and had a broken marriage to a man named Louis McKay. Louis was a Mafia enforcer at the time. The news portal mentioned above claimed that their marriage was abusive and thus Billie Holiday separated from him without a divorce. Thus after her death, Louis inherited her estate along with all the royalties that came with it. Louis also passed away at the age of 72 following a heart attack. Currently, a movie is being made on the OTT platform Hulu that depicts the life of Billie Holiday titled The United States vs Billie Holiday according to the news portal mentioned above.

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