The home for Songs That Saved Your Life Radio on WKNY 107.9FM where Jami explores the very queer roots of rock n roll and plays a lot of great music!
Because she wasn’t out in her lifetime, Simone’s legacy as a queer icon is often overshadowed.
On this week’s episode, we celebrate the fullness of Nina Simone’s legacy - not just as a musical genius and Civil Rights activist, but as a queer icon whose radical vulnerability has too often been overshadowed. We trace her journey from classical prodigy to genre-defying performer, political firebrand, and underground favorite in Greenwich Village’s queer nightlife. With a voice that embodied resistance and yearning, Simone lived—and loved—on her own terms.
This episode revisits her most iconic recordings and dives deep into the parts of her story that history tends to quiet. Music in today’s episode includes songs by Billie Holiday, Talib Kwali, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Tracy Chapman, and more.
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