American singer, songwriter, musician, and civil rights activist.

Nina Simone made her classical concert debut as a precocious talent at the age of 12. She went on to study with a Curtis Institute professor, earning the funds to pay for lessons by singing in clubs. Her recording of “I Loves You, Porgy” and “Little Girl Blue” propelled her to fame in 1964. She recorded her first song addressing racial inequality, “Mississippi Goddamn” and then “Old Jim Crow” on the same album. Simone spoke and performed at civil rights meetings and advocated violent revolution. Simone felt the music industry punished her for her protest songs, so she moved to Europe in the 1970’s. Maya Angelou said about Simone, saying “Few who have met her music or glimpsed her soul react with moderation.”