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From Bessie Smith’s blues grit to Tina Turner’s fire, these two singers helped shape Janis Joplin’s unforgettable vocal style ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich – Ann Arbor's Theatre Nova has announced an extension of its smash hit "The Devil's Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith" by Angelo Parra. The show was slated to run through April ...

Miche Braden stars as Bessie Smith, the legendary “Empress of the Blues,” who blazed the trail for a century of performers from Aretha Franklin to Adele. Mixing classics like “Need a Little Sugar In ...

Long before superstardom existed, Bessie Smith showed the world what it meant to be a legend. Born into poverty, she turned ...

Bessie Smith, Empress of the Blues, was the first African American superstar, an artist that mingled regal dignity with sensuality. We’ll sample her recorded legacy, talk with critics and hear ...

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Outstanding Actress in a Musical : Miche Braden was nominated but did not win.

The four-time Emmy-award winning HBO film Bessie, directed by Dee Rees, depicts the life and times of songstress Bessie Smith, a.k.a., the Empress of the Blues. Starring Queen Latifah as the openly ...

“I wrung my hands and I wanted to scream / But when I woke up I found it was only a dream.” There she stood at Columbia’s studio in New York to record this song in September 1923. She and pianist ...