Nina Simone was called the “High Priestess of Soul”. Her singing, songwriting and piano playing was legendary and has been profoundly influential for many other musicians. She was a classical piano player and though her music was mostly associated with jazz, she worked with pop, gospel, blues, classical, folk and R&B. She made over 40 albums, between 1958 and 1974 , with many hit records.

After twenty years of playing music she became a civil rights activist. Between 1964 and 1974 she recorded songs that were about racial inequality and race relations. Amongst many she sang “Old Jim Crow” which addressed the Jim Crow Laws, “Mississippi Goddam”, which was about the bombings of a church in Birmingham, Alabama. Her music and presence became regular at civil rights events over those years.

She was known to work incredibly hard, sometimes practicing 3-6 hours before giving a concert. She named being in water her first love, music her second. From 1974- 2003 she mostly lived out of the USA. She spent her later years in France.

“There’s no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were.” – Nina Simone

“Jazz is a white term to define black people. My music is black classical music.” -Nina Simone