She considered herself more of a tomboy, and often joined in the neighborhood games of baseball. Their apartment was in a mixed neighborhood, where Ella made friends easily. Perhaps naïve to the circumstances, Ella worked as a runner for local gamblers, picking up their bets and dropping off money. Occasionally, Ella took on small jobs to contribute money as well. To support the family, Joe dug ditches and was a part-time chauffeur, while Tempie worked at a laundromat and did some catering. Ella’s half-sister, Frances, was born in 1923 and soon she began referring to Joe as her stepfather. Together, Tempie and Ella went to Yonkers, N.Y, where they eventually moved in with Tempie’s longtime boyfriend Joseph Da Silva. Her father, William, and mother, Temperance (Tempie), parted ways shortly after her birth. Humble but happy beginningsĮlla Jane Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Va. In fact, many of them had just one binding factor in common – they all loved her. They were rich and poor, made up of all races, all religions and all nationalities. Her audiences were as diverse as her vocal range. She performed at top venues all over the world, and packed them to the hilt.

(Or rather, some might say all the jazz greats had the pleasure of working with Ella.) She worked with all the jazz greats, from Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Nat King Cole, to Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman. She could sing sultry ballads, sweet jazz and imitate every instrument in an orchestra. Her voice was flexible, wide-ranging, accurate and ageless. In her lifetime, she won 13 Grammy awards and sold over 40 million albums.

Dubbed “The First Lady of Song,” Ella Fitzgerald was the most popular female jazz singer in the United States for more than half a century.

True by Ella Frank