How every moment in Andra Day’s incredible career led to her role as Billie Holiday

It’s difficult to think of any artist living today that could embody the iconic Billie Holiday better than Andra Day. In the new film The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Day brings the legendary and groundbreaking singer’s life to the big screen in a performance so powerful that it has earned her an Oscar nomination.

Speaking to PBS NewsHour in March, Day said she threw herself into preparing for the role, even smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol to achieve Holiday’s trademark raspy delivery. “The gravel in Billie Holiday’s voice, the sound and the tone, is something that women earned over years of her life,” said Day. “I had to figure out how to earn it in a very short period of time.”

Day earned Holiday’s gravel and much more, already winning a Golden Globe for Best Actress during February’s award show. The singer’s prep for playing Holiday, which included reading books and watching films about the blues legend, was intense, but looking back at Day’s career, it’s clear that she’s been preparing for this role since she first stepped on a stage. 

From Cassandra Batie To Andra Day

Born Cassandra Batie in Washington and raised in California, Batie eventually shortened her first name and took on the moniker Day in homage to Billie Holiday, who was often referred to as Lady Day. If that’s not foreshadowing…

Lady Sings the Blues

When director Lee Daniels first approached Day about taking on the role of Billie Holiday, the singer was quick to turn him down. Speaking to PBS, Day said she grew up idolizing Diana Ross’ role as Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues, which like Day marked Ross’ first major movie role and earned the singer her first Oscar nomination. Not feeling like she could match Ross’ performance, Day changed her mind when she learned how different the two films would be. “Then I found out, obviously, that it wasn’t a remaking Lady Sings the Blues, but that it would be vindicating Billie’s legacy, which incentivized me,” Day told PBS. In a sweet nod to the 1972 film, Ross’ son Evan Ross has a small role in The United States vs. Billie Holiday.

Day Covers Holiday

In 2017, Day partnered with the Equal Justice Initiative and released a cover and accompanying music video of Holiday’s “Strange Fruit.” The lyrics spoke about the horrific practice of lynching Black Americans and resulted in the FBI disturbingly targeting the singer.

"Rise Up" as a BLM Anthem

In 2015, Day released her debut album Cheers to the Fall, which included the single “Rise Up.” The song earned a Grammy nomination and has more recently become an anthem for the Black Lives Matter movement, not unlike what Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” was for the civil rights movement. Day earned an Emmy nomination for her performance of “Rise Up” on The View and went on to perform it for the Obamas at the White House, during a rally for Hillary Clinton and at the Democratic National Convention. 

"Stand Up For Something" and the Academy Awards

The United States vs. Billie Holiday is Day’s first major feature role, but she did have a small appearance in the 2017 film Marshall, which also focused on civil rights, specifically NAACP lawyer Marshall Thurgood. Day also worked with rapper Common on the powerful original song “Stand Up For Something,” which appeared on the film’s soundtrack and was nominated for an Oscar. Holiday also appeared on screen and in the soundtrack for the film New Orleans, which included her song “The Blues Are Brewin.”

Teamed up with musical greats

During her career, Holiday worked and spent time with several musical greats, including Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. Day has also surrounded herself with some of the biggest names in music including Stevie Wonder, whose wife saw Day performing at a mall in 2010 and encouraged her husband to reach out to the young singer. The pair later collaborated on a 2015 Apple ad.

Ready for her closeup

Day may still be new to the world of feature films, but she’s no stranger to Hollywood. In addition to her work on Marshall and lending her voice to the Cars 3 film, Day performed at the Sundance Festival in 2014 and caught the attention of the great Spike Lee, who directed her music video for “Forever Mine.” 

Her political activism

Like Holiday did with performing “Strange Fruits” and desegregating audiences at her shows, Day has also used her platform to fight injustice. In addition to performing at the DNC and at the inauguration of President Biden and Vice President Harris, Day’s performance at the 2018 Oscars included activists from the Black Lives Matter movement, Time’s Up, Planned Parenthood, Sandy Hook Promise, Equal Justice Initiative, Standing Rock Youth Council, World Central Kitchen, Syrian refugee and author Bana Alabed, and Transgender rights activist and author Janet Mock.

Day also recorded the new song “Tigress & Tweed” for the soundtrack to The United States vs. Billie Holiday, which she describes as an evolution of “Strange Fruit.”

BEFORE YOU GO: Andra Day on how she transformed into Billie Holiday for her new film

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