Lady Sings the Blues
Diana Ross is Billie Holiday. Diana Ross sings Billie Holiday. And a superstar is born.
Chronicles the rise and fall of legendary blues singer Billie Holiday, beginning with her traumatic youth. The story depicts her early attempts at a singing career and her eventual rise to stardom, as well as her difficult relationship with Louis McKay, her boyfriend and manager. Casting a shadow over even Holiday's brightest moments is the vocalist's severe drug addiction, which threatens to end both her career and her life.
- Year: 1972
- Country: United States of America
- Genre: Drama, Music
- Studio: Weston Productions, Jobete Productions, Motown Productions, Paramount Pictures, Sidney J. Furie Productions
- Keyword: new york city, brothel, jazz singer or musician, mental breakdown, biography, addiction, rape victim, tour bus, racism, based on memoir or autobiography, period drama, drug overdose, music history, lynching, dying young, black singer, withdrawal, heroin addict, nightclub singer, blues music, billie holiday, harlem, new york city, carnegie hall, rise to fame, wayward girl, death of a musician, music tour, 1940s, somber, 1930s, following one's dream, desperate, former prostitute, period film, straight jacket, cautionary, black woman, cultural icon, woman's story, disheartening, powerful, woman musician, deep south racism, kkk rally
- Director: Sidney J. Furie
- Cast: Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, James T. Callahan, Paul Hampton, Sid Melton