NEW YORK (Jazz magazine) - The world of jazz has paid tribute to singer Nina Simone, who died at her home in France Monday aged 70.
She will be remembered as a key figure in the civil rights movement, said promoter George Wein. "That's what separated Nina from the other singers. Nina took civil rights and the movement, the fight to another level, and made it part of her persona," he said.
Yet her inability to embrace her audience often let her down. "As an entertainer, she had the world in her hands, but she never knew how to grab it," added Wein.
"She was a black woman who never could relate to the position of what it was to be black in America. She couldn't understand it. She was an unhappy person."
Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina, she was best known for her interpretation of "My Baby Just Cares for Me" in 1966 and "One Night Stand" in 1967.
A classically trained pianist, her songs ranged from blues to spirituals to classical. But she gained fame in 1959 with her recording of "I Loves You Porgy," from the musical "Porgy & Bess."
She continued to have success in the 1960s and 1970s, with songs like "I Want A Little Sugar in My Bowl," and "Peaches."
She recorded songs from as diverse as Bob Dylan to the Bee Gees. One of her more popular covers was her version of "House of the Rising Sun."
Simone, called the "High Priestess of Soul" by fans, tackled civil rights issues through music, including "Mississippi Goddam," "Old Jim Crow" and "To Be Young, Gifted and Black.
She cited racism for her decision to leave America in 1973, saying she had paid a "heavy price" for fighting the establishment.
She lived in the Caribbean and Africa before settling in Europe, spending much of her final years in France.
Simone remained a top concert draw in her later years but looked frail. At a 2001 concert at Carnegie Hall, she had to be helped to the stage and was later seen sitting backstage in a wheelchair.
She died of natural causes and is survived by a daughter, Lisa, according to her manager Clifton Henderson. He did not say where in France she died.
"She inspired other singers to do what they believed in," said Henderson. "She'll definitely be looked at as a civil rights movement leader."
