Billie Holiday Strange Fruit 1939 Apr 2026

Billie Holiday ’s 1939 recording of is widely considered the first great protest song of the 20th century. Originally a poem by Abel Meeropol, a white Jewish teacher from the Bronx, the song uses a haunting metaphor—fruit hanging from poplar trees—to describe the horrific reality of lynchings in the American South. The Performance: Art as Resistance

Holiday first performed the song at , New York’s first integrated nightclub. To ensure the message hit with full force, the club established strict rules for its performance: Billie Holiday Strange Fruit 1939

: Holiday always closed her set with it; no encore was allowed. Billie Holiday ’s 1939 recording of is widely