Biography of Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald ranks as perhaps the most accomplished jazz singer alive and certainly among the best of the century. After winning an amateur contest in 1934, she was hired by bandleader Chick Webb, and began scoring hits by 1936. In 1938, her recording of "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" topped the charts for ten weeks, becoming one of the first records to sell really well since the start of the Depression. In 1939, after Webb's death, Fitzgerald took over leadership of The Webb orchestra, then went solo in 1942. Among her major hits in the '40s were "I'm Making Believe" and "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall," the latter with The Ink Spots.In the '50s, Fitzgerald began issuing a series of two-record "songbooks," each devoted to a different songwriter or songwriting team. The first was Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book, and others were devoted to Rodgers And Hart, and George and Ira Gershwin. Fitzgerald's flawless performances were marked by clear enunciation and a light, warm tone that made her renditions near-definitive. She has continued to perform regularly into the '90s. ~ William Ruhlmann