What was Bessie Smith’s last words?
A prominent African-American blues performer during the Jazz Age was Bessie Smith. April 15, 1894 marked her birth, and September 26, 1937 marked her death. She was renowned as the “Empress of the Blues” and was the most well-known female blues musician of the 1930s. Smith, a native of Tennessee who was only a little…
A prominent African-American blues performer during the Jazz Age was Bessie Smith. April 15, 1894 marked her birth, and September 26, 1937 marked her death.
She was renowned as the “Empress of the Blues” and was the most well-known female blues musician of the 1930s. Smith, a native of Tennessee who was only a little child when her parents passed away, and her six siblings made a living by singing and dancing on the streets.
One of the best vocalists of her time, she had a big influence on jazz and blues singers alike. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honored her with an induction in 1989. Both her incredible emotional intensity and her deep contralto voice made her famous.
After touring with Ma Rainey, one of the first of the great blues singers, about 1913, Smith began performing in tent shows, clubs, and theatres throughout the South. In February 1923, she cut her first recordings, which included the classic “Down Hearted Blues,” a smash song that sold over two million copies.
What was Bessie Smith’s last words?
Bessie died on September 26, 1937, at 11.30 a.m. in Ward 1 of the G.T. Thomas Hospital, according to her death certificate. Following a crash on Mississippi’s Highway 61 close to Clarksdale, Smith passed tragically. Bessie Smith uttered these words just before she passed away: “I’m going, but I’m going in the name of the Lord.”
