Scotland’s national poet Jackie Kay explores the success of Bessie Smith and the rise in popularity of the blues, as she brings to life the dramatic story of the greatest blues singer who ever lived.

Orphaned by the age of nine, Bessie Smith sang on the street to support her siblings and was swept into travelling shows as a young woman. Facing extreme racial prejudice, she frequently brawled under the influence of bathtub gin and had tumultuous love affairs with men and women. She also sold hundreds of thousands of records and became a genuine superstar.

“The first time I saw Bessie Smith, it really was like finding a friend…”

Mixing biography, fiction, music and memoir, the Makar remembers the electric thrill of identification when, as a young black girl growing up in Glasgow, she was first gifted the music of the Empress.

Abridged by Rosemary Goring
Read by Jackie Kay
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie Show less