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All Of Me: The Betrayal of Billie Holiday

Logo for All Of Me: The Betrayal of Billie Holiday

To mark the 50th anniversary of Billie Holiday's death, Neneh Cherry tells the story of a remarkable period in the American jazz singer's life. Neneh goes back to the underworld of 1940s New York to reveal how Billie Holiday was betrayed by her manager and sentenced to a year and day in a tough segregated prison for drug offences. Using archive material from the narcotics officers assigned to her case, as well as interviews with people who knew and played with her, this programme reveals Billie Holiday's transformation from a prisoner in a federal penitentiary, to a career-defining moment - centre stage at Carnegie Hall - all in just eleven days. Using extracts from her FBI, prison and medical files, this programme pieces together the little known story of how Billie Holiday's experiences of betrayal, despair, triumph and success went on to influence her music and become the soundtrack of her life.