Nina Simone

Nina Simone, stage name of Eunice Kathleen Waymon, (Tryon, North Carolina, February 21, 1933 - Carry-le-Rouet (France), April 21, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter, pianist and civil rights activist. She is mainly counted among the jazz musicians, but she hated this term herself. In her work you can also hear the influences of classical music, blues, rhythm-and-blues and soul. (Wikipedia)