Billie Holiday: Heroin Hounds, ‘Whorehouse Music,’ and the Queen of Jazz
DISGRACELAND
04/05/22
•39m
About
Comments
Featured In
Billie Holiday ascended from the rough and tumble streets of Baltimore and Harlem, through reform school, brothels, and Welfare Island, right to the top of the music game. Her childhood fascination with “whorehouse music” filled a void in her lost innocence, but she soon found a second stabilizer: Heroin. Just when her sensational “Strange Fruit” brought her to Columbia Records, her dependency on hard drugs landed her behind bars. Her mesmerizing voice ensnared listeners unlike any other jazz singer of her day, but in the end, it was narcotics that eventually ensnared Billie Holiday and sealed her fate.
This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners and includes descriptions of sexual assault.
To see the full list of contributors see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com.
To listen to Disgraceland ad free and get access to a monthly exclusive episode, weekly bonus content and more, become a Disgraceland All Access member at disgracelandpod.com/membership.
Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTER
Follow Jake and DISGRACELAND:
X (formerly Twitter)
To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Previous Episode
Billie Holiday ascended from the rough and tumble streets of Baltimore and Harlem, through reform school, brothels, and Welfare Island, right to the top of the music game. Her childhood fascination with “whorehouse music” filled a void in her lost innocence, but she soon found a second stabilizer: Heroin. Just when her sensational “Strange Fruit” brought her to Columbia Records, her dependency on hard drugs landed her behind bars. Her mesmerizing voice ensnared listeners unlike any other jazz singer of her day, but in the end, it was narcotics that eventually ensnared Billie Holiday and sealed her fate.
This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners and includes descriptions of sexual assault.
To hear all episodes of Disgraceland for free, visit amazon.com/disgraceland. Show notes are available at disgracelandpod.com. Follow us @disgracelandpod on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for music news, bonus episodes, and more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Next Episode
Disgraceland Talks Billie Holiday (After Party Bonus Episode)
April 12, 2022
•28m
Jake tells the origins of his Billie Holiday fandom, names his top 3 Billie tracks for anyone doing their first deep dive, and weighs in on music documentaries vs music biopics.
Join the After Party live by following Disgraceland on Twitch at http://twitch.tv/DisgracelandTalks
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
If you like this episode you’ll love
Promoted