Jo Brand picks American blues singer Bessie Smith

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The biography show where famous guests pick someone they admire or love. Today Jo Brand picks Bessie Smith. Bessie Smith was born in 1894 in Chatanooga, Tennessee and orphaned by the time she was 9. She lived, breathed and sang the blues. Known for hits like Downhearted Blues and Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do, she was an incredibly powerful and trailblazing singer. Picking her for her attitude more than anything is the comedian Jo Brand; "She behaved appallingly sometimes, and secretly I quite admire that". Joining Jo is Jackie Kay, a Bessie Smith fangirl since the age of 12 and author of Bessie Smith: singer, icon, pioneer. The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer for BBC Studios Audio is Ellie Richold,