Bessie Smith became the best-paid Black performer of the 1920s as the 'Empress of the Blues,' turning down-home blues phrasing into a commanding, theater-filling vocal style backed by top jazz musicians of the era, including a young Louis Armstrong. Her 1923 debut single 'Downhearted Blues' sold hundreds of thousands of copies within months, establishing the classic blues record as commercially viable. Her deep, unflinching emotional directness became a foundational reference point for virtually every blues and jazz vocalist who followed.

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1923

Downhearted BluesBessie Smith