Today is Nina Simone’s birthday.

An endlessly fascinating vocalist and fierce activist, Nina Simone changed the face of American popular music.

There were great jazz vocalists before her, but no singer was more fearless with their delivery, arrangements, style, and subject matter. A true maverick.

From AllMusic:

Nina Simone was one of the most gifted vocalists of her generation, and also one of the most eclectic. Simone was a singer, pianist, and songwriter who bent genres to her will rather than allowing herself to be confined by their boundaries; her work swung back and forth between jazz, blues, soul, classical, R&B, pop, gospel, and world music, with passion, emotional honesty, and a strong grasp of technique as the constants of her musical career.

Check out a Nina Simone classic – “Four Women” – below:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRmzQ39sXTQ

Thoughts on the life and legacy of Nina Simone?

What’s your favorite of her many classic tracks?

Sound off below!