Nina Simone

Nina Simone, born Eunice Kathleen Waymon, was an extraordinary American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist celebrated as the 'High Priestess of Soul'. A child prodigy who aspired to become America's first classical Black concert pianist, she was denied admission to the Curtis Institute of Music due to racial discrimination—a watershed injustice that propelled her into jazz, blues, and pop clubs under the pseudonym Nina Simone.

Simone fused classical Bach counterpoint, fiery gospel, blues, and jazz with a rich, smoky contralto voice. In the 1960s, she became the fierce musical voice of the Civil Rights Movement, penning devastating anthems like 'Mississippi Goddam', 'To Be Young, Gifted and Black', and 'Four Women'. In later life, she lived as an expatriate in Barbados, Liberia, and France.