Person Open DS/UK/16391 Simone; Nina (21 February 1933-21 April 2003); American singer songwriter, musician and civil rights activist Simone Nina 21 February 1933-21 April 2003 American singer songwriter, musician and civil rights activist Female (cisgender) Eunice Kathleen Waymon https://thirdlight.royalalberthall.com/pf.tlx?SF7SFXPSWAXV7u Tryon, North Carolina, United States (born)

Carry-le-Rouet, France (died)

American Musician; Singer Songwriter Activist; Civil Rights Black Daughter of Mary Kate Waymon Irvin (Methodist minister and housemaid) and Rev John Devan Waymon (handyman) Former spouse of Don Ross (beatnik and fairground barker) and Andrew Stroud (American police detective) Heterosexual Nina Simone was an American singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned a broad range of musical styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop. Simone initially aspired to be a concert pianist. With the help of a few supporters in her hometown, she enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. She then applied for a scholarship to study at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she was denied admission despite a well-received audition, which she attributed to racial discrimination. In 2003, just days before her death, the Institute awarded her an honorary degree. To make a living, Simone started playing piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City. She changed her name to "Nina Simone" to disguise herself from family members, having chosen to play "the devil's music" or so-called "cocktail piano". She was told in the nightclub that she would have to sing to her own accompaniment, which effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist. She went on to record more than 40 albums between 1958 and 1974, making her debut with Little Girl Blue. She had a hit single in the United States in 1958 with "I Loves You, Porgy". Her musical style fused gospel and pop with classical music, in particular Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice. Activism and Views: Simone performed and spoke at civil rights meetings, such as at the Selma to Montgomery marches. Like Malcolm X, her neighbor in Mount Vernon, she supported black nationalism and advocated violent revolution rather than Martin Luther King's non-violent approach. She hoped that African Americans could use armed combat to form a separate state, though she wrote in her autobiography that she and her family regarded all races as equal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Simone (2020) International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) 2nd edition - ICA 2004 ISBN 2-9521932-2-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 Yes RAHSkeyte 5/19/2014 RAHAKirkbride 10/25/2023 344c48a1-3a40-4185-b912-ca7a62ca1a27