41 Remarkable Memoirs by Black Celebrities

First published in 1956, just three years before her death, the autobiography Lady Sings the Blues chronicles the life of famed jazz musician Billie Holiday. Lady Day, as she was affectionately known, opens up about her troubled childhood, sexual abuse, heroin addiction, celebrity friends and feuds, jail stints, and finding success as an African-American in a pre-Civil Rights era. In addition to her struggles, the singer discusses the persistence and determination that carried her on her rise to fame, as well as the sexy and sultry atmosphere of jazz and blues.