7 things you may not know about Nina Simone

Nina Simone was born on 21 February 1933 in Tryon, North Carolina, USA. She is famous for songs such as 'To Be Young, Gifted and Black', 'I Loves You, Porgy', and 'Mississippi Goddam'. 

Simone was an all-rounder, singing classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop.

Her first album, 'Little Girl Blue', was released in February 1959 and her final album, 'A Single Woman,' was released in 1993.

Simone died on 21 April 2003 aged 70. 

Interesting facts about the star:

- Her real name is Eunice Kathleen Waymon. 

- Her mother, Mary Kate Waymon, was not in support of secular music and called it the devil's music, so Eunice changed her name to Nina Simone to disguise her identity.  

- She studied music at Juilliard School of Music in New York City.

- Due to racial discrimination, she was denied a scholarship to study music further at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, but the same institution awarded her an honorary degree. 

- She started playing the piano at the age of four and the first songs she played were 'God Be With You' and 'Till We Meet Again'.

- Her first job as a musician was playing the piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City.

- The singer's ashes were scattered in several African countries.

Award-winning East Coast Gold plays Classic Hits from the 60s, 70s and 80s. Listen to East Coast Gold via the ECR app or here. We’re also on various other platforms, including Alexa (just enable the ‘East Coast Gold’ skill); MyTuner, Radio Garden; iono.fm, Radioline or OpenRadio.

Who's on-air when?

Gordon Graham, weekdays 6-10am and Sundays 2-6pm.
Jane Linley-Thomas, weekdays 10am-1 pm and Saturday 2-6pm.
Damon Beard, weekdays 1-5pm and Sundays, 6-10am.
Dave Guselli, weekdays 5-9pm and Saturdays, 6-10am.
Alex Jay, weekends 10am – 2pm.

Image courtesy of YouTube screenshot