Netflix has a really solid documentary up on Ella Fitzgerald that we’d recommend any music lover check out.
It talks a lot about her early life and the trauma she experienced after her mother died. And that when she went to the Apollo for Amateur Night, her original plan was to dance. However she saw two dancers ahead of her and realized she couldn’t compete with them so it was time for Plan B.
So she sang, and a legend was born.
People realized almost immediately that she was an extraordinary talent but the interesting thing is that she had at least three distinct phases to her career.