by Larry Blumenfeld
In the late 1980s, Simone’s haunting rendition of “My Baby Just Cares For Me” became the theme for Chanel No.5 perfume TV ads. Like an alluring fragrance, her voice was powerful, unforgettable, and impossible to classify. As a singer and pianist, Simone had a emotionally direct style that freely blended jazz, blues, gospel and European art song. In the ‘60s, she was a prominent civil rights activist. Her “Mississippi Goddam” was an impassioned response to the murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evars. “To Be Young, Gifted and Black,” which she co-wrote, became an anthem for Aretha Franklin.
Born Eunice Waymon, in Tryon, NC, Simone earned a scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music in 1950, later getting a job playing piano and singing in an Atlantic City bar. She changed her name so her mother wouldn’t find out.
Simone interpreted an eclectic repertoire – from Screamin’ Jay Hawinks’ “I Put a Spell on You” to Kurt Weill and Jacques Brel to the Beatles’ “Here Comes The Sun.” In her 1991 autobiography, “I Put a Spell on You,” she wrote, “Calling me a jazz singer was a way of ignoring my musical background, because I didn’t fit into white ideas of what a black performer should be.” Simone left the US in 1974, settling in France. She is survived by three brothers, a sister and a daughter, Lisa, known professionally as Simone and currently on Broadway in Aida.