History Music / EllaFitzgerald

She was heard by one of the musicians in Chick Webb's influential swing band and was soon picked up by Webb, with whom she cut one of the era's most influential and popular jazz songs, “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” (1938), at age 21. During the [[TheForties '40s]], she recorded for Creator/DeccaRecords and gradually advanced her reputation, but still had yet to break through to the "mainstream" (i.e., white) audience. After signing with Creator/VerveRecords (a label that was created specifically for her) in in the [[TheFifties '50s]], she released a series of "song book" albums, each devoted to the works of well-known songwriters and composers including Music/ColePorter, Music/GeorgeGershwin, and Music/IrvingBerlin; these helped serve to codify the canon of jazz standards and cemented her stardom. She also collaborated with such other famous musicians as Music/DukeEllington, Music/FrankSinatra, and, most famously, Music/LouisArmstrong during this era. She recorded for Creator/{{Capitol|Records}} and then Creator/{{Reprise|Records}} in the [[TheSixties '60s]] before moving to Verve founder Norman Granz's Pablo Records in the [[TheSeventies '70s]]. Still a prominent and respected figure in the jazz world, she continued to perform and keep up with the times. Classics of this period include her live ''Ella in Berlin'' album and her collaborations with guitarist Joe Pass.

* ChristmasSongs: She recorded a number of them through the years, including the full-length albums ''Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas'' (1960), which features secular 20th-century Christmas tunes, and ''Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas'' (1967), which concentrates on older religious carols.

** ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers and Hart Song Book'' (1956)
** ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book'' (1957). Ellington and his orchestra accompanied her on the album.

She was heard by one of the musicians in Chick Webb's influential swing band and was soon picked up by Webb, with whom she cut one of the era's most influential and popular jazz songs, “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” (1938), at age 21. During the [[TheForties '40s]], she recorded for Creator/DeccaRecords and gradually advanced her reputation, but still had yet to break through to the "mainstream" (i.e., white) audience. After signing with Creator/VerveRecords (a label that was created specifically for her) in in the [[TheFifties '50s]], she released a series of "song book" albums, each devoted to the works of well-known songwriters and composers including Music/ColePorter, Music/GeorgeGershwin, and Music/IrvingBerlin; these helped serve to codify the canon of jazz standards and cemented her stardom. She also collaborated with such other famous musicians as Music/DukeEllington, Music/FrankSinatra, and, most famously, Music/LouisArmstrong during this era. She recorded for Creator/{{Capitol|Records}} and then Creator/{{Reprise|Records}} in the [[TheSixties '60s]], before moving to Verve founder Norman Granz's Pablo Records in the [[TheSeventies '70s]]. Still a prominent and respected figure in the jazz world, she continued to perform and keep up with the times. Classics of this period include her live ''Ella in Berlin'' album and her collaborations with guitarist Joe Pass.

She was heard by one of the musicians in Chick Webb's influential swing band and was soon picked up by Webb, with whom she cut one of the era's most influential and popular jazz songs, “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” (1938), at age 21. During the [[TheForties '40s]], she recorded for Creator/DeccaRecords and gradually advanced her reputation, but still had yet to break through to the "mainstream" (i.e., white) audience. After signing with Creator/VerveRecords (a label that was created specifically for her) in in the [[TheFifties '50s]], she released a series of "song book" albums, each devoted to the works of well-known songwriters and composers including Music/ColePorter, Music/GeorgeGershwin, and Music/IrvingBerlin; these helped to codify the canon of jazz standards and cemented her stardom. While at Verve she also collaborated with such other famous musicians as Music/DukeEllington, Music/FrankSinatra, and, most famously, Music/LouisArmstrong. She recorded for Creator/{{Capitol|Records}} and then Creator/{{Reprise|Records}} in the [[TheSixties '60s]], before moving to Verve founder Norman Granz's Pablo Records in the [[TheSeventies '70s]]. Still a prominent and respected figure in the jazz world, she continued to perform and keep up with the times. Classics of this period include her live ''Ella in Berlin'' album and her collaborations with guitarist Joe Pass.

Fitzgerald had [[DarkAndTroubledPast a tough life growing up]] and was homeless for most of her teenage years in New York City. There she would dance for pennies to any passerby, thinking she'd become a great dancer. In 1934, the Apollo theatre held an amateur night, and Ella signed up to dance; however, seeing a better dance group before her, she opted to sing instead. The rest is history.

She was heard by one of the musicians in Chick Webb's influential band and was picked up by Chick Webb, “The King of Swing” himself. She cut one of the most influential and popular jazz songs with the band, “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” (1938), at 21. During the [[TheForties '40s]], she recorded for Creator/DeccaRecords and gradually advanced her reputation, but still had yet to break through to the "mainstream" (read: white) audience. After signing with Creator/VerveRecords (a label created specifically for her) in in the [[TheFifties '50s]], she released a series of "song book" albums, each devoted to the works of well-known songwriters and composers including Music/ColePorter, Music/GeorgeGershwin, and Music/IrvingBerlin; these helped to codify the canon of jazz standards and cemented her stardom. She also collaborated with many other musicians of her time, such as Music/FrankSinatra and, most famously, Music/LouisArmstrong. Still prominent throughout the [[TheSixties '60s]] and [[TheSeventies '70s]], she continued to perform and keep up with the times. Classics of this period include her ''Ella in Berlin'' album and her collaborations with guitarist Joe Pass.

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* GlassShatteringSound: Appeared in one of Memorex's "Is it real or Memorex?" TV commercials, in which her voice breaks a wine glass when she hits a high note... and then replaying the recording of her singing also causes glass to shatter.

She was heard by one of the musicians in Chick Webb's influential band and was picked up by Chick Webb, “The King of Swing” himself. She cut one of the most influential and popular jazz songs with the band, “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” (1938), at 21. During TheForties, she slowly grew her reputation but hadn't yet broken through the white audience mainstream. Once signing with Verve in TheFifties (a label created specifically for her), she put out various cover albums of famous songwriters and composers like Music/ColePorter, Music/GeorgeGershwin, and Music/IrvingBerlin, and in turn, created jazz standards and solidified her stardom. She collaborated with many famous musicians of her time like Music/FrankSinatra, and most famously, Music/LouisArmstrong. Still prominent throughout TheSixties and TheSeventies, she continued to sing and keep up with the times. Classics of this period include her ''Ella in Berlin'' album and her collaborations with guitarist, Joe Pass.

As time went on, Fitzgerald’s voice began to deteriorate along with her health due to her diabetes, so she retired from public life. In 1996, she died a musical legend.

* {{Corpsing}}: In her live recording of "Mack The Knife", Ella begins to get the giggles when she forgets the lyrics to the song halfway through. She quickly recovers and [[TheShowMustGoOn nails the performance]].

* CoverAlbum: These made Ella break into the mainstream and solidified her career as ''the'' jazz vocalist. She sang ''everyone''.

* {{Corpsing}}: In her live recording of "Mack The Knife", Ella begins to get the giggles when she forgets the lyrics to the song halfway through. She quickly recovers and [[TheShowMustGoOn nails the performance]].