Billie Holiday

Before her success as jazz singer, Billie Holiday had lived a troubled childhood. Her father abandoned her at an early age, and relatives with whom she later lived treated her badly. She worked as a prostitute and was briefly jailed before she began singing at a small club in Brooklyn. In 1933, she moved on to Monette's, a Harlem club, where she was discovered by producer John Hammond. Over the next two years, Hammond arranged recording sessions for Holiday with some of the best jazz musicians of the time, including Benny Goodman.

(AP Photo)