The Ronettes

Singles. Also 1993's film Point of No Return (aka The Assassin) and 1996's Romeo and Juliet included some of her songs and introduced a new generation to her soulful music. Compilations. She died in her sleep in Carry-le-Rouet in 2003. Standard albums. In 1993, she settled near Aix-en-Provence in the south of France. Ronnie Spector married Phil Spector in 1968 then launched a solo career after divorcing him in 1973 (see 1973 in music). Simone's autobiography, I Put a Spell on You (ISBN 0306805251) was published in 1992.

They disbanded in 1966. Her daughter, an actress/singer known only as "Simone," has appeared on Broadway in Aida. After a hiatus in the middle of the 60s, the Ronettes (and Spector) re-emerged without much of a popular reaction; musical tastes had moved beyond the girl group sound, and the Ronettes were unable to maintain their relevance. Simone's regal bearing and commanding stage presence earned her the title the "High Priestess of Soul.". They consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett (a.k.a. Ronnie Spector), her sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley. Though her onstage style could be somewhat haughty and aloof, in later years Simone particularly seemed to enjoy engaging her adoring audiences by recounting sometimes humorous anecdotes related to her career and music and soliciting requests. The Ronettes were an American girl group of the 1960s, best known for their work with producer Phil Spector. She had a reputation in the music industry for being sometimes difficult to deal with and volatile, a characterization with which Simone vigorously took issue.

Buy Some" (did not chart). In 1995, Simone purportedly shot her neighbour's son with a BB gun after his laughing disturbed her concentration. 1969: "Try Some. In the 1980s, she performed regularly at Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London. 1966: "I Can Hear Music" (US #100). She lived in various countries in the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe, continuing to perform into her 60s. 1965: "Is This What I Get for Loving You?" (US #75). She returned in 1978 and was arrested for tax evasion (she had withheld several years of income tax as a protest against the Vietnam War).

1965: "Born to Be Together" (US #52). In 1971, Simone left the United States following disagreements with agents, record labels, and the tax authorities, citing racism as the reason. 1964: "Walking in the Rain" (US #23). A 1968 Norman Jewison cinematic hit, "The Thomas Crown Affair," starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway, featured Simone's "Sinner Man" and helped bring her music to a broader audience. 1964: "Do I Love You?" (US #34, UK #35). In a single concert, she moved easily from gospel-inspired tunes, to blues and jazz and, in numbers like "For All We Know," to numbers infused with European classical stylings, and counterpoint fugues. 1964: "(The Best Part of) Breaking Up" (US #39, UK #43). Nina's versatility as an artist was evident throughout her music, which often had a folk-music simplicity.

1964: "Baby, I Love You" (US #24, UK #11). Other songs she is famous for include "I Put a Spell on You" (originally by Screamin' Jay Hawkins), The Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun," "Four Women," and "My Baby Just Cares for Me". 1963: "Be My Baby" (US #2, UK #4). In 1961, Simone recorded a version of the traditional song "House of the Rising Sun", a song which was later recorded by Bob Dylan and was a hit for The Animals. 1992: The Best of the Ronettes. Throughout the 1960s, Simone was involved in the Civil Rights Movement and recorded a number of political songs, including "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" (later covered by Aretha Franklin), "Blacklash Blues," "Mississippi Goddam" (a response to the murder of Medgar Evers and the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama killing four black children), "I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free" and Kurt Weill's "Pirate Jenny" set in a southern hotel. 1964: Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes featuring Veronica (US #96). This was soon followed by the single "My Baby Just Cares for Me" (this was also a hit in the 1980s in the United Kingdom when used for television advertisements for Chanel No. 5 perfume).

She first came to public notice in 1959 with her wrenching rendition of George Gershwin's "I Loves You Porgy" (from Porgy and Bess), which proved to be her only Top 40 hit in the United States. Simone turned instead to blues and jazz after getting her start in an Atlantic City nightclub, taking the name "Nina Simone" in 1954 - "Nina" was her boyfriend's nickname for her (from the Spanish for "girl") and "Simone" was after the French actress Simone Signoret. Simone believed that she was rejected because she was black. She later had an interview to study piano at the Curtis Institute, but was rejected.

She was able to begin studying piano at New York City's prestigious Juilliard School of Music, thanks to the sponsorship of benefactors, but lack of funds meant that she was unable to fulfill her dream of becoming America's first African-American concert pianist. At seventeen, Simone moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she taught piano and accompanied singers. This incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement. When she debuted publicly at a piano recital at age ten, her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to make way for whites.

Like a number of other African-American singers, she was inspired as a child by Marian Anderson and began singing at her local church, also showing prodigious talent as a pianist. Simone was born in Tryon, North Carolina, one of eight children. Her vocal style is characterized by passion, breathiness, and tremolo. She generally is classified as a jazz musician, but disliked that categorisation herself; and her work also has been described as covering the blues, rhythm and blues and soul.

Eunice Kathleen Waymon, better known as Nina Simone (February 21, 1933 - April 21, 2003), was a singer, songwriter and pianist. My music is Black classical music.". "Jazz is a white term to define Black people.