Ella Fitzgerald By: Allison Little

Biographical Information Born on April 25, 1918 in Newport News, VA Died on June 15, 1996 in Beverly Hills, CA Nicknames: “Lady Ella” and First Lady of Song” Married: Benny Kornegay ( ), Ray Brown ( ) Parents: William Fitzgerald, Temperance Siblings: France Da Silva(half sister) Children: Ray Brown Jr.

Goals One of Ella’s goals was that she hoped to provide assistance to the at-risk and disadvantaged members of our communities - assistance that would enable them to achieve a better quality of life. The Board of Directors of the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation seeks to continue Ella Fitzgerald's goals by making charitable grants serving four major areas of interest: 1.creating educational and other opportunities for children 2.fostering a love and knowledge of music, including assistance to students of music 3.the provision of health care, food, shelter and counseling to those in need 4.specific areas of medical care and research with an emphasis on Diabetes, vision problems and heart disease

Accomplishments 14 Grammy Awards: Won in 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1967, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983 and 1990(only 11 here) Honorary Chairmanship of the Martin Luther King Foundation: 1967 Received first ASCAP award in recognition of an artist: 1965 University of Maryland names its new $1.6 million, 1,200-seat theater and concert hall the Ella Fitzgerald Center for the Performing Arts: 1974

Influential Contemporary Chick Webb was one of the people who Ella worked with throughout her career. She sang with Webb’s band as the featured singer for several years and, when he died in 1939, she took over as bandleader. After years of performing and recording, Fitzgerald made her famous “songbook” recordings. These albums remain among the most influential popular records in American music Later, accompanied by the best orchestras of the period, Fitzgerald sang many of the great compositions of George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, Richard Rodgers and Lorenzo Hart, Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer, and others.

Quotes from Ella Fitzgerald "It isn't where you came from, its where you're going that counts." "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.“ "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.“ "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."

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