Nina simone, daughter

Nina Simone is born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina on February 21, 1933.

1933

Simone graduates from Allen High School for Girls in Asheville, North Carolina. She spends the summer at the Juilliard School as a student of Carl Friedberg, preparing for an audition at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Her application was later denied, which Simone believed was due to racial discrimination.

1950

Simone's first public performance under the name "Nina Simone" at the Midtown Bar and Grill in Atlantic City.

1955

Simone records her first album, "Little Girl Blue," a mixture of jazz, blues and classical.

1957

"Little Girl Blue" is released. After the album's success, Simone signs a contract with Colpix Records and records a number of studio and live albums, including live albums "Nina Simone at Town Hall" and "The Amazing Nina Simone."

1959

Simone’s music and voice become intertwined with the civil rights movement.

1960s

Release of her album, "Nina at Newport."

1960

Release of her studio album, "Forbidden Fruit," Simone's fifth album since "Little Girl Blue."

1961

Release of albums "At the Village Gate" and "Nina Simone Sings Ellington."

1962

“Mississippi Goddamn” is written and released in response to the assassination of Medgar Evers and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

1963

Simone signs to Philips Records, a Dutch company that allows her to record songs that draw on her African American heritage. Release of her studio album, "Broadway - Blues - Ballads."

1964

Release of her studio albums, "Let It All Out," "I Put a Spell on You" and "Pastel Blues."

1965

Release of her studio album, "Wild Is the Wind."

1966

Release of her studio albums, "High Priestess of Soul," "Nina Simone Sings the Blues" and "Silk & Soul."

1967

Release of her studio and live album, "'Nuff Said!"

1968

Release of her studio album, "Black Gold."

1969

Release of her studio album, "Gifted & Black."

1970

Release of her 13th studio album, "Here Comes the Sun."

1971

Simone leaves the United States for Barbados. She relocates to Liberia, then to various places in Europe, where she spends the rest of her life.

1973

Release of her 14th studio album, "Baltimore."

1978

Release of her final album, "A Single Woman."

1993

Nina Simone dies at her home in Carry-le-Rouet, France at the age of 70.

April 21, 2003

Simone's childhood home in Tryon, North Carolina is designated a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

2018