Random Unprecedented Rise And Tragic Death Of Billie Holiday (16 items)

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  (#1) She Was Born To A Teenage Mother

  Billie Holiday was born to a teen mom. In 1915, when she was born, her mother Sadie was only 13, and her father was only 15. Billie's given name was Eleanora Fagan, but she gave herself her stage name based on movie star Billie Dove and her father, reportedly jazz musician Clarence Holiday. Unfortunately, her father was rarely around during her childhood and she and her mother had to struggle on their own.
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  (#12) Her Cabaret Card Was Revoked

  After her arrest and subsequent treatment, Billie returned to New York to perform. There was one thing in the way, however - her "Cabaret Card" had been revoked. Because of the drug conviction, she no longer held the license that allowed her to play in venues that served alcohol. 

  She still played in grand venues like Carnegie Hall and toured throughout Europe, but it was always the nightclubs that she had grown up playing that held her heart.
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  (#14) She Was Arrested One Last Time - On Her Death Bed In The Hospital

  In 1959, Billie Holiday was admitted to the hospital suffering from liver and heart problems, complications of years of drug use. To add insult to injury, she was actually arrested in her hospital bed for narcotics possession, and was under "bed arrest" for an entire month before she passed away.

  There was a guard outside her room, and all of her flowers and gifts, as well as her record player, were removed. She passed away on July 17th, 1959, at the age of just 44.
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  (#10) She Went To Prison In 1947 For Drug Possesion

  Billie's drug habit had been slowly building up since the early 1940s and came to a breaking point in 1947. She was arrested for possession of narcotics, and requested to be sent to a federal rehabilitation center in Virginia. She stayed for a year and a day, in an attempt to rid herself of the destructive drug habits that were starting to slowly destroy her career.
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  (#13) Her Second Husband Was A Mafia Enforcer

  Holiday married a man named Louis McKay in Mexico in 1957. She had dated several abusive and drug-addicted men before Louis, and he became yet another man in her life that took advantage of her. There were rumors that he was actually a mafia enforcer, and his intention was to use her name to open a recording studio. They remained married until Holiday died only two years later.
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  (#11) She Appeared Alongside Her Idol, Louis Armstrong, On The Silver Screen

  In the film New Orleans, which premiered in 1947 shortly before Billie went to prison for drug use, the singer got to appear alongside Louis Armstrong. The film was a romantic musical, with Louis and Billie falling in love as characters in romantic musical films are want to do. As much of a coup as this was for Billie, who had loved the idea of getting billed in a film with Armstrong, it was something of a double-edged blade: she was cast as a maid, a role that no doubt lacked the dignity she would have preferred.

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