Nina Simone

Nina Simone (1965)   Photo by Ron Kroon for Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

American Singer, Songwriter, Pianist and Civil Rights Activist • February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003 • Jazz • Blues • Classical • Folk • Spirituals

Fast Facts

• Born Eunice Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina, Nina began playing hymns on the piano by ear at age three. By age five, she was playing church services
• At Nina’s debut concert at age 12, her parents were asked to move from their front-row seats to the back of the venue
• Nina earned a one-year scholarship at the Juilliard School of Music to study piano
• Nina was denied entry to the Curtis Institute of Music (likely due to her race)
• Nina chose her moniker (nickname) in order to hide from her religious mother that she was performing in bars and nightclubs 
• By her mid-20s, Simone signed at Colpix Records, and was playing live shows at Manhattan’s Town Hall
• Despite her initial reluctance to write protest music, Nina penned “Mississippi Goddam” in the wake of activist Medgar Evars’ assassination and the Alabama church bombing
• Much of Simone’s discography focuses on key aspects of racism and politics, which was uncommon for musical artists of the time, and provoked ire from key figures in the music industry
• Simone was twice-married and had a daughter, but recounts a profound romantic relationship with another woman in her memoir
• Nina was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the 1980s, accounting for 10+ years of unexplained psychiatric episodes
• Nina sold over one million CDs within the last decade of her life
• Simone has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame