The story of the ‘First Lady Of Song’
“Music comes out of her. When she walks down the street, she leaves notes.”— Pianist Jimmy Rowles
Ella Fitzgerald wanted to be a dancer, but blessed with perfect pitch and a three-octave range, it seems the universe had other plans. As a singer, she revolutionised vocal technique. She could seamlessly change tempo, improvise, and lead a band with impeccable rhythmic skill. Her tone was so pure, musicians could tune their instruments to it.
As a person, Ella was sweet and gracious. Orphaned and homeless as a teenager, she endured heartbreak, abuse, and racism, and was often derided for her looks. A shy woman, at times unable to find her words, she sang them instead, and became an iconic jazz legend, selling 40 million records worldwide.
“It isn’t where you came from, it’s where you’re going that counts.” – Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald was born April 25th 1917, in Newport News, Virginia. Her parents, Tempie and William, split up soon after, and her mother took her to live in New York. She grew up in Yonkers with her Portuguese stepfather, Jose Da Silva, and half-sister, Frances. Her mother worked in a laundromat, while Jose was a labourer and chauffeur. To bring some extra money in, a naive young Ella would ‘run numbers’ for local gangsters and was a lookout for prostitutes. She was a happy child and a good student, playing baseball in the street, singing in the church choir, and always dancing.
Tempie was killed in a car accident when Ella was 15. She moved in with an Aunt in Harlem, and Frances joined her after Jose suffered a fatal heart attack the following year. Ella’s grades dropped, she skipped school, and was eventually picked up by the police for truancy. After some weeks at the Colored Orphan Asylum, she was moved to a state-run reform school for girls in Hudson. Ella never publicly spoke about her time at the reformatory. She escaped after a year, returning to Harlem, homeless and making tips from singing and dancing on 125th Street. Some years later, an investigation into the reform school found that black girls at the institution were routinely beaten and kept in horrendous conditions.
Ella had been living on the streets for four months when she got her chance to dance at the Apollo Theatre’s Amateur Talent Contest. When she got out on stage, she froze. A popular dance act had been on before her, with a great routine and fancy costumes. The 17-year-old stood there in dirty rags, being booed and jeered. She went to the bandleader and asked him to play ‘Judy’ by Connee Boswell instead, and started to sing. The jeers turned to cheers, and after three encores, she won the contest and $25 prize money.
“I was there from the beginning, and it was obvious from the start what she had that night at the Apollo. My goodness, what she’s done with it.”— Saxophonist/Bandleader Benny Carter
Renowned drummer and bandleader “The King Of Swing” Chick Webb was looking for a new sound and singer, away from the usual ‘crooner’ style. While winning more talent shows, Ella had caught the attention of the circuit musicians, and guitarist John Trueheart, showman Bardu Ali, and singer Charles Linton all pushed Webb into giving the dishevelled teenager a shot. He was reluctant. She wasn’t who he’d imagined, but he gave her a try-out at the Yale University Prom and, although gawky and self-conscious, the crowd loved her. Webb took her on, paying her a handsome $12.50 a week.
“I know I’m no glamour girl, and it’s not easy for me to get up in front of a crowd of people. It used to bother me a lot, but now I’ve got it figured out that God gave me this talent to use, so I just stand there and sing.”
– Ella Fitzgerald
Both Benny Goodman and saxophonist Louis Jordan made unsuccessful attempts to poach Ella from Chick Webb. She had natural timing, perfect diction, and could learn a song in minutes. Webb encouraged her to improvise and she became more confident, mastering her trademark scat. In 1938, they released “A-Tisket A-Tasket” on Decca Records, a song that Fitzgerald had co-written based on the nursery rhyme. It was a smash hit, spending 17 weeks on the pop charts, and made them famous.
The success was short-lived for Webb. He died the following year, aged 34, losing a battle with spinal tuberculosis, which had stunted his growth and caused him constant pain since childhood. Ella said Chick was one of the greatest drummers in the world, and after his death she led the band for three years before going solo.
“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” – Ella Fitzgerald
Aged 24, Ella married Ben Kornegay, but annulled the marriage after finding out he was a convicted drug dealer. In 1947, she became Mrs Ray Brown, meeting her younger bass-playing husband while touring together with Dizzy Gillespie. They adopted her sister’s son, naming him Ray Brown Jr., but touring schedules didn’t fit well with family life, and Ray Jr. didn’t see much of his parents while they were on the road.
Remaining friends and still often working together, the couple divorced after five years. According to Reuters, in 1957, Ella married once more, to Norwegian Thor Einar Larsen. The relationship ended when he was sentenced to six months hard labour in Sweden for theft, after which, at least in the public eye, she had no more serious romantic relationships.
“I’ve had some wonderful love affairs and some that didn’t work out. I don’t want to dwell on that and I don’t want to put people down, but I think all the fabulous places I’ve been, the wonderful things that have happened for me, the great people I’ve met – that ought to make a story.” – Ella Fitzgerald
Fame did not stop racist discrimination. In 1954, Ella was booked for a series of gigs in Australia. She and two of her entourage were flying first class with Pan-Am from San Francisco to Sydney, and when they stopped to refuel in Honolulu, airline staff refused to let them back on the plane. They couldn’t even collect their belongings and were left stranded in Hawaii for three days, while the Australian shows had to be rescheduled. Fitzgerald sued Pan-Am for racism, winning on appeal and receiving a $7,500 payout. The airline’s defence was that she had been bumped from the flight due to “an honest mistake”.
“The said refusal was wilful and malicious and was motivated by prejudice against the plaintiffs, Fitzgerald, Lewis, and Henry because of their race and color” – Judgement in the Pan-Am case – 12/23/1954 Records of U.S. District Courts (NARA ID 2641486)
In 1955, Marilyn Monroe was at the height of stardom and a big fan of Ella. She asked the owner of the famous Mocambo nightclub on Sunset Strip to book her for one week in March. Charlie Morrison was reluctant. He had booked some black artists before, but was concerned that Fitzgerald was not glamorous enough for the venue. Marilyn promised she would book front row tables for herself and her friends for the week Ella played – an offer Mocambo couldn’t refuse. Monroe’s presence ensured a packed house and frenzy of media coverage. The booking won Ella a lot of attention and a much wider audience, for which she said she owed Marilyn a real debt.
“Marilyn was there, front table, every night. The press went overboard. After that, I never had to play a small jazz club again. She was an unusual woman – a little ahead of her times. And she didn’t even know it.”
– Ella Fitzgerald
Ray Brown had introduced his wife to producer and concert promoter Norman Granz, who later became her manager, friend, and business partner. Granz was a staunch advocate for civil rights and refused to play racially segregated venues. In October 1955, his ‘Jazz At The Philharmonic’ would be the first major concert in Houston, Texas, to play for an integrated audience.
While Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Illinois Jacquet, and Georgina Henry were backstage, armed plain-clothes police raided their dressing room and arrested them for gambling. Granz fiercely objected, so they arrested him too. Reporters and photographers were waiting for them at the jail (and Jacquet told them his name was Louis Armstrong). Granz paid the $50 bail and got them back in time to play the second half of the show. He later went to great expense and effort to successfully have all charges dropped.
“I have nothing to say, what is there to say? I was only having a piece of pie and a cup of coffee” – Ella Fitzgerald, when met by reporters outside Houston City Jail
Ella often collaborated, working with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Bill Kenny and the Ink Spots, Benny Goodman, Joe Pass, and Oscar Peterson. She made four albums with her childhood hero, Louis Armstrong, and in 1974 performed a two-week residency in New York with Frank Sinatra. Granz created the Verve record label for her music, and 1956 saw the release of the first in eight of her songbook series, ‘Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Songbook’. This completed her crossover from jazz, swing and bebop, to mainstream American pop culture.
“She is amazingly creative, bringing so much more to a song than just a singer. She is a first-class musician and the most gracious person in the world.” – Pianist and Composer Marty Paich
Ella received an avalanche of accolades and acknowledgments throughout her 60-year career, most notably: Kennedy Center Honors, NAACP Image Award, The National Medal of Arts, The Presidential Medal of Freedom, induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and eight honorary doctorate degrees. She won 13 Grammys, including Lifetime Achievement, and remains the only artist to be awarded for a song in which the singer forgot the words. In her 1960 live album “Ella in Berlin: Mack the Knife”, she improvised the lyrics to the title track , sang scat, and did an impression of her good friend Louis. The album, and her vocal performance on the song, each won a Grammy.
“Ella’s amazing! My daughter says that every time she makes a mistake, it becomes a hit record.”
— Lucille Ball
Ella passed away on June 15th, 1996, aged 79. She had undergone quintuple coronary bypass surgery ten years prior, and was diagnosed with diabetes and cataracts. Later, due to circulatory issues, she would need a double leg amputation below the knee, a procedure from which she never fully recovered. Her final public performance was in 1991, the last of twenty-six times that she had sung at Carnegie Hall. She spent her retirement making up lost time with Ray Jr. and her granddaughter, Alice, in the garden of her Beverly Hills home.
“I just want to smell the air, listen to the birds and hear Alice laugh” – Ella Fitzgerald
She set up the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation in 1993, to help disadvantaged children and adults achieve a better quality of life. The non-profit organisation is open to all races, cultures, and beliefs, and funds college sponsorships, free health care, medical research, housing, food, education, and counselling services. In 2024 alone, the foundation awarded 116 grants, donating over a million dollars to the underprivileged.
“I guess what everyone wants more than anything else is to be loved. And to know that you loved me for my singing is too much for me. Forgive me if I don’t have all the words. Maybe I can sing it and you’ll understand.”
– Ella Fitzgerald
