Nina Simone

Nina Simone trained as a classical pianist and never stopped sounding like one. Her playing drew on Bach as much as jazz and gospel, and her dark, rich contralto could be tender, wry or furious, refusing to fit any one genre.

Her version of Gershwin's 'I Loves You, Porgy' launched her career, and records like Pastel Blues and Wild Is the Wind mixed jazz, blues, folk and soul. In the 60s she became a fierce voice of the civil rights movement with 'Mississippi Goddam' and 'To Be Young, Gifted and Black'. Much later, 'My Baby Just Cares for Me' became an unexpected UK hit after appearing in a perfume ad in 1987.