Nina Simone

Eunice Kathleen Waymon, better known by her stage name Nina Simone (IPA: ˈniːnə sɨˈmoʊn) (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), was a fifteen-time Grammy Award-nominated American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger and civil rights activist. Although she disliked being categorized, Simone is generally classified as a jazz musician; She personally preferred the term "black classical music". Simone originally aspired to become a classical pianist, but her work covers an eclectic variety of musical styles besides her classical basis, such as jazz, soul, folk, rnb, gospel, and pop music.