Born Ella Jean Fitzgerald in April 1917 in Newport News, Virginia she and her mother soon moved to Yonkers. A tomboy who loved baseball Ella loved to sing and dance. While still a teen Ella won the chance to perform at an amateur night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Shy and reserved off stage Ella was fearless under the lights and even a booing crowd when she first stepped out on stage didn't upset her; but it wasn't long before the boos changed to cheers that ended in a demand for an encore - which was given. Ella began entering and winning every talent show she could find.

Ella's first professional gig was singing with a big band for $12.50 a week. In 1936 Ella made her first album. Her first hit was taken from a nursery rhyme "A Tisket - A Tasket" sat at the number one spot for 17 weeks.

With manager Norman Granz - who demanded equal treatment for Ella even in the deep South and during racial strife - Ella Fitzgerald recorded over 200 albums.
Ella who turned scatting into an art form; was the most popular and a frequent visitor to the variety shows of the day including Doris Day and Ed Sullivan. During her career Ella shared the stage with greats like Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gilespie, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Nat King Cole, and Frank Sinatra.

Even after heart problems, diabetes, and a quintuple bypass surgery Ella continued to tour and perform. Ira Gershwin once said, "I never knew how good area songs were until I heard Ella Fitzgerald sing them". Within hours of her death on June 15, 1996 signs appeared all over the world remembering Ella Fitzgerald; among them a wreath of white flowers was placed next to her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a marquee that stood outside the Hollywood Bowl.

Though it has been over a decade since the passing of Ella Fitzgerald, we have a new album of her music honouring one of the greatest songwriters in the first half of the twentieth century, Harold Arlen. Besides writing some of the chart topping pop songs of the day Arlen also wrote for television and movies. "The Very Best of the Harold Arlen Songbook" is a collection of 12 of Arlen's songs Ella Fitzgerald has performed over the years and are now on one album. Kennedy Center Honours and National Medal of Arts winner Ella Fitzgerald shows why great music is ageless with her performances on "The Very Best of the Harold Arlen Songbook". Included on the album are classics and hits "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" and "Over the Rainbow" from the "Wizard of Oz", "It's Only a Paper Moon", "Get Happy", "That Old Black Magic", and "Stormy Weather".