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Nina Simone music biography continued...

vocal styles. Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina, on February 21, 1933. Her mother worked as a maid and her employer, hearing of Simone's talent, provided funds for piano lessons, which eventually led her on a course to studying at the Julliard School in Manhattan, while working in small clubs to support herself. She soon she recorded a rendition of George Gershwin's "I Loves You Porgy" (from Porgy and Bess) in 1958, which was learned from a Billie Holiday album and performed as a favor to a friend. It became her only Billboard top 40 hit in the United States. Simone would go on to record over 40 live and studio albums, the biggest body of her work being released between 1958 (when she made her debut with Little Girl Blue) and 1974. Famous Nina Simone songs from this period include, "My Baby Just Cares for Me", "I Put a Spell On You", "Feeling Good", "Sinnerman" and "To Be Young, Gifted and Black", " as well as such civil rights anthems as "Mississippi Goddam" and "Old Jim Crow."
The 1970s and 80s proved to be tumultuous times for Simone as she divorced her husband/manager Andy Stroud, encountered serious financial problems, and became something of a nomad, settling at various points in Switzerland, Liberia, Barbados, France, and Britain. She had an unexpected resurgence in 1987, when her tune, "My Baby Just Cares for Me," became a big British hit after being used in a Chanel perfume television commercial. In 1993, her record A Single Woman marked her return to an American major label, and her profile was also elevated when several of her songs were featured in the film Point of No Return. Her last major performance in the United States was at Carnegie Hall in 2001. She died on April 21, 2003 at her home in Carry-le-Rouet, France, where she had been spending much of her retirement. Her music and message, however, has made a strong and lasting impact on African-American culture, illustrated by the numerous contemporary artists that cite her as an important influence and the fans who still listen to her music on soundtracks and in remixes.