Start of Success

After the amateur theater contest, Fitzgerald's career kept going uphill. Motivated to make music of her own, Fitzgerald continued to perform around New York. While doing so, she met a drummer named Chick Webb who had been a part of a music group. After meeting the band, Fitzgerald joined and sang for them. She did her first performance with the band at Yale University which ended up being very successful. This show gave Fitzgerald a job as a singer at Harlem's Savoy Ballroom.

Chick Webbs inconic drums

Ella Fitzgerald and Chick Webb

(1935)

The pair preforming together in Harlem

When she was 21, Fitzgerald recorded two hit songs that spread her name to all of New York, “Love and Kisses” and “A-Tisket, A-Tasket”. These hits were on top charts for seventeen weeks in a row during 1938. Everything seemed to be going well within her career until Chick Webb passed away in 1939. He died of pots disease which meant most of his blood stayed in the lower part of his body. After his death, Fitzgerald took over the role of bandleader and over the next couple of years Ella and Her Famous Orchestra wrote 150 songs.

Still dealing with financial issues, Fitzgerald ended up becoming the lead singer for Three Keys at Decca records. After joining Three Keys, she got the opportunity to work with big names such as Bill Kenny and Louis Jordan. Fitzgerald also ended up going on tour with Dizzy Gillespie. This is when people started recognizing Fitzgerald for her scatting and unique style.

Ella Fitzgerald and Ray Brown in 1947

While working with Three Keys, she met Barry Kornegay, and they fell in love. Kornegay was a convicted drug dealer in the jazz scene. The two got married two years after meeting but eventually divorced in 1942. Fitzgerald continued to focus on her career and met another man, Ray Brown. He was a bassist in a jazz band, and they fell in love, got married, and adopted their son Ray Jr.

In 1947, Fitzgerald began singing for Jazz at the Philharmonic. She ended up doing covers of classic jazz songs in her style and some of those covers became the most influential pieces of jazz history yet.

Most Famous Covers:

"Satin Doll" by Duke Ellington
"Mack The Knife" by Kurt Weill
"Cry Me a River" by Artur Hamilton

Fitzgerald began appearing on TV shows and other media sources which spread her name even more. At this point in time, her and Brown divorced in 1952 but stayed close friends afterwards.

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