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Long before superstardom existed, Bessie Smith showed the world what it meant to be a legend. Born into poverty, she turned her pain into art and her art into power. Her songs defined the blues, her ...

The hangings parted and a great brown woman emerged—she was the size of Fay Templeton in her Weber & Fields days, and she was even garbed similarly, in a rose satin dress, spangled with sequins, which ...

Bessie Smith, Empress of the Blues, was the first African American superstar, an artist that mingled regal dignity with sensuality. We’ll sample her recorded legacy, talk with critics and hear ...