usicians and fans the world over were shocked to hear of the death of one of the most precious talents in Jazz music history. On Monday, April 21, 2003, singer Nina Simone died in her sleep of natural causes from a lingering illness. She was 70 years old.

At her memorial service, held in Carry-Le-Rouet, France, more than 300 mourners gathered to pay their respects and say farewell to one of the last great jazz divas.

For more than forty years, Simone remained a standout not only for her incredible singing voice, but for her political voice as well.

Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in 1933 in Tryon, N.C., Simone was the sixth of seven children born into a very poor Southern family. As music was an important value of pursuit in her family, she began to play the piano at the age of four.

However, the Southern racism of the time was unavoidable. During one of her piano recitals at the age of 10, her parents were removed from the front row to accommodate a white couple.

Music became Simone's release, as well as her propensity. Despite her family's poverty, an impressed music teacher set up a charitable fund in order to support Simone and her growing talents, which later got her accepted to New York's prestigious Julliard School of Music.

In order to help support her family, she took singing gigs in night clubs. It was in these clubs that she found her voice and changed her name. Her stage name came from "Nina," Spanish for little girl, and "Simone," from French actress Simone Signoret.

Performances in night clubs paid off, as audiences were immediately drawn to her unique  deep, sultry vocal style.

In the clubs, Simone incorporated a mix of everything from folk and bebop to blues and soul,  though adamantly refusing to call her music Jazz.

"Jazz is a white term to define black people. My music is black classical music," she would say in various interviews.

In 1959, Simone received instant adoration and accolades when she released Gershwin's "I Loves Ya, Porgy," soon followed by her next hit, the famed "My Baby Just Cares For Me."  Thirty years later, the song was used for a Chanel No. 5 commercial, rekindling a fellowship and growing curiosity for her voice.

In 1999 one of Nina's most somber songs, "Don't Explain" was used in Oliver Stone's film “Any Given Sunday,” which, again, brought her a young and new audience interest.

Aside from music, her life took an even greater significance, when she redirected her attention to the struggle for civil rights. At the height of her fame, she was closely associated with Malcom X and other leaders striving for equality.

When four black children were killed during the 1963 bombing of a church in Birmingham, Ala., Simone wrote a powerful and moving anthem attacking American racism, declaring, "I don't belong here/I've stopped believing in prayer."

Her song "To Be Young, Gifted, and Black," was inspired by friend and radical black playwright, Lorraine Hansberry, later became a black anthem, and secured her importance in the struggle for equality and civil rights.

Soon after these songs were released, she left the United States, wandering to the Caribbean and Africa, before settling in France in 1990.

She became reclusive and difficult to interview, displaying an irrational and volatile temper, sometimes not even showing up for engagements.

Though many will remember her tumultuous life and temper,  more will remember her unbelievable contributions to music and to civil rights. Simone will be truly missed and impossible to forget.
pete@red-mag.com