SINGER

Bessie Smith

1894 - 1937

Photo of Bessie Smith

Icon of person Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an 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 1920s and 1930s. 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 3,587,301 page views. Her biography is available in 47 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 46 in 2019). Bessie Smith is the 220th most popular singer (down from 176th in 2019), the 1,424th most popular biography from United States (down from 1,114th in 2019) and the 73rd most popular American Singer.

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

Memorability Metrics

  • 3.6M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 68.87

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 47

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 3.47

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.98

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of Bessie Smiths by language


Among SINGERS

Among singers, Bessie Smith ranks 220 out of 3,541. Before her are Omara Portuondo, Kylie Minogue, Vicky Leandros, Shirley Bassey, Gianni Morandi, and Chris Cornell. After her are Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Nena, Meat Loaf, Lata Mangeshkar, Ajda Pekkan, and Desireless.

Most Popular Singers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1894, Bessie Smith ranks 53. Before her are Leo Kanner, Tivadar Soros, Walter Brennan, Edogawa Ranpo, Dimitri Tiomkin, and André Kertész. After her are Lothar von Richthofen, Kōnosuke Matsushita, Ásgeir Ásgeirsson, Ernst Lindemann, Walter Warlimont, and Hans Langsdorff. Among people deceased in 1937, Bessie Smith ranks 40. Before her are Edith Wharton, Emilio Mola, Frank B. Kellogg, Louis Vierne, Pavel Florensky, and Yeghishe Charents. After her are Georgy Pyatakov, Andrés Nin Pérez, Jagadish Chandra Bose, Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse, Ahmed Izzet Pasha, 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 1,424 out of 15,968. Before her are Robert Bloch (1917), Sidney Bechet (1897), Dirk Benedict (1945), Lawrence Klein (1920), Val Kilmer (1959), and Chris Cornell (1964). After her are Fred Phelps (1929), Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. (1934), Bob Ross (1942), Elisha Gray (1835), Katharine Ross (1940), and Henry Hathaway (1898).

Others born in United States

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Among SINGERS In United States

Among singers born in United States, Bessie Smith ranks 73. Before her are Neil Diamond (1941), George Benson (1943), Debbie Harry (1945), Sammy Davis Jr. (1925), Tom Morello (1964), and Chris Cornell (1964). After her are Meat Loaf (1947), John Fogerty (1945), Carole King (1942), Sonny Bono (1935), Axl Rose (1962), and Lil Wayne (1982).

American born Singers

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