On Tuesday 7th April 2015, legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday would have turned 100 years old. To celebrate Lady Day's centenary year, we created a series of features for our Jamie Cullum on BBC Radio 2 show exploring Billie's impact on artists including Kate Bush, Alice Russell and many others; we also produced a very special documentary for Radio 2 on her relationship with another musical legend.
Read moreBuilding up to her anniversary, we launched 'Billie & Me', a weekly feature on Jamie Cullum's show, where artists including Kate Bush, Gregory Porter, José James and Dame Cleo Laine shared memories of their favourite Billie tracks and what made Billie Holiday so special.
You can listen to all of our Billie & Me features on Jamie's pages on the BBC Radio 2 website here or search the hashtag #R2BillieAndMe on Twitter.
To mark the day of Billie's 100th we also produced a special hour long programme for Radio 2 exploring the unique relationship between Billie and another musical legend, Frank Sinatra.
From their initial meeting in 1939 Jamie discovers that Sinatra was immediately captivated by Billie Holiday's style and talent. Jamie celebrates their interconnected careers as two of the 20th century's greatest interpreters of popular song; from their initial meeting through to Billie's tragic death, which saw Sinatra inconsolably lock himself in his room with his Billie Holiday records for days.
Jamie is a huge admirer of both artists and in this programme he not only traces the story of their relationship but importantly, celebrates their talent.
The programme is available to listen to for up to 30 days on the BBC Radio 2 website here.
