Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Update - 1 July 2009: this press release has been changed to reflect revised programme details.

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Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 2 marks the 50th anniversary of Billie Holiday's death in July 1959 with two new documentaries on her life and music.

Neneh Cherry looks at a remarkable short and influential period in the jazz singer's life when she went from being a prisoner to centre stage at the Carnegie Hall in just 11 days, in All Of Me – The Betrayal Of Billie Holiday on Tuesday 7 July.

And Billy Crystal takes a personal look at the life and music of this legendary jazz singer who he knew personally in Angel Of Harlem – The Billie Holiday Story on Tuesday 14 July.

These Radio 2 documentaries follow in the footsteps of recent in-depth looks into the lives of legendary artists including Charles Aznavour, Buddy Holly, Carmen Miranda and Eddie Cochran.

Singer and Billie Holiday fan Neneh Cherry takes a look back at a single amazing year in the singer's extraordinary life in All of Me – The Betrayal Of Billie Holiday (Tuesday 7 July).

She reveals how the singer was betrayed by her own manager and sentenced to a year and a day in a federal prison on a drugs conviction which eventually destroyed her career.

With archive material from the narcotics officers assigned to her case, as well as interviews with people who knew her, the programme reveals Billie Holiday's transformation from prisoner in a federal penitentiary to the pinnacle of her career, centre stage at Carnegie Hall – all in just 11 days.

Neneh Cherry says: "Discovering the truth of what really happened to Billie Holiday in the mid-1940s has been a fascinating journey.

"She was betrayed by someone close to her and that betrayal then really set the scene for the rest of her life and also influenced her music."

Star of When Harry Met Sally, City Slickers and numerous other hit movies, US actor Billy Crystal grew up in a musical family with Billie Holiday being one of many regular visitors to the family home.

Crystal's family owned and operated the legendary Commodore Records label, home to many of Billie's greatest songs and, in Angel Of Harlem – The Billie Holiday Story (Tuesday 14 July), Billy celebrates the enduring influence of Billie Holiday and explains why she was a true icon and exemplary performer.

Billy Crystal says: "My uncle Milt ran Commodore Records, a small independent jazz label. He had a shop of the same name on 52nd Street in New York, in the middle of all the jazz clubs. Swing Street they called it.

"Billie Holiday was a regular on Swing Street and Milt and Billie became friends.

"When no one else would release the record Strange Fruit Milt stepped in. The song was about the lynchings in the South, an America people didn't want to hear about. Milt knew it wasn't economical but he thought it was really important.

"For my part I am so proud that my family was involved in the record that Time magazine would one day vote the most important release of the 20th century."

As one of the most revered vocalists of the century, she left a massive legacy of recorded work, including timeless classics Summertime, Lady Sings The Blues, That Old Devil Called Love and the controversial Strange Fruit but, more than that, she laid the foundations for the liberated musical world we have today.

And, as a further treat for Billie Holiday fans, there's another chance to hear Friday Night is Music Night's Tribute To Billie Holiday (Friday 10 July), a one-off evening of jazz theatre dedicated to the life of Billie Holiday, recorded at Cheltenham Town Hall in May last year.

The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra are directed by jazz supremo Guy Barker and Mike Dixon and special guests include Michael Brandon as the narrator with Juliet Roberts, Liane Carroll and Hazel Fernandes.

All Of Me – The Betrayal Of Billie Holiday, Tuesday 7 July at 10.30pm

Friday Night Is Music Night – Tribute To Billie Holiday, Friday 10 July at 7.30pm

Angel Of Harlem – The Billie Holiday Story, Tuesday 14 July at 10.30pm

SH3