The Queen of Blues passed away about sixty years ago, just before Christmas, due to a lethal, highly alcoholic cocktail of pills, and she was not yet forty; her real name was Ruth Lee Jones.

She adored Billie Holiday, and her father, who was often absent from the family and frequently unemployed, had gambling as his primary occupation. It was her mother who bore the burden during those years of her childhood, characterized by the deep economic depression that gripped the States.

She joined the church choir as a child, where she became the leader and pianist.

Later (at fifteen), she began performing in Chicago nightclubs, adopting the name Dinah Washington.

She had a very tumultuous love life, marked by several "unofficial" relationships and six divorces and seven husbands. She had become a sex symbol for African Americans and beyond; her audience adored her so much that they nicknamed her "The Queen of the Blues" and nothing...

Dinah Washington - This Bitter Earth