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SINGER

Bessie Smith

1894 - 1937

Photo of Bessie Smith

Icon of person Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an African-American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the "Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, she is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and was a major influence on fellow blues singers, as well as jazz vocalists.Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Smith was young when her parents died, and she and her six siblings survived by performing on street corners. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Bessie Smith has received more than 4,176,841 page views. Her biography is available in 49 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 47 in 2019). Bessie Smith is the 240th most popular singer (down from 220th in 2019), the 1,575th most popular biography from United States (down from 1,423rd in 2019) and the 78th most popular American Singer.

Bessie Smith was an African-American blues singer who is most famous for her song "Downhearted Blues."

Memorability Metrics

  • 4.2M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 59.05

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 49

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 3.51

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.98

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of Bessie Smiths by language


Among SINGERS

Among singers, Bessie Smith ranks 240 out of 3,528. Before her are Anthony Kiedis, Jacqueline Boyer, Zucchero Fornaciari, Beyoncé, Kim Carnes, and Nicolai Ghiaurov. After her are Van Morrison, Eazy-E, Marian Gold, Gary Brooker, F. R. David, and Nicolai Gedda.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1894, Bessie Smith ranks 55. Before her are Aino Aalto, Percy Spencer, Leo Kanner, Ernst Lindemann, V. V. Giri, and Ásgeir Ásgeirsson. After her are André Kertész, Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, Walter Brennan, Anton Mussert, Dimitri Tiomkin, and Walter Warlimont. Among people deceased in 1937, Bessie Smith ranks 41. Before her are Wallace Carothers, Edith Wharton, Pavel Florensky, Louis Vierne, Georgy Pyatakov, and Keke Geladze. After her are Ray Ewry, Chūya Nakahara, Vincenzo Lancia, Andrés Nin Pérez, Abd al-Hafid of Morocco, and Max Adler.

Others Born in 1894

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Others Deceased in 1937

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Bessie Smith ranks 1,575 out of 18,182. Before her are Lee de Forest (1873), Joseph Nye (1937), George C. Scott (1927), Frederic Edwin Church (1826), Edward W. Morley (1838), and Alonzo Church (1903). After her are Michael Madsen (1957), Eazy-E (1964), Donald J. Cram (1919), Grant Wood (1891), Reed Hastings (1960), and Mike Powell (1963).

Others born in United States

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Among SINGERS In United States

Among singers born in United States, Bessie Smith ranks 78. Before her are Debbie Harry (1945), Lil Wayne (1982), Chris Cornell (1964), Anthony Kiedis (1962), Beyoncé (1981), and Kim Carnes (1945). After her are Eazy-E (1964), John Fogerty (1945), Sonny Bono (1935), Hank Williams (1923), Jessye Norman (1945), and Mahalia Jackson (1911).

American born Singers

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