defied categorization. Trained as a classical pianist, she performed blues, jazz, protest songs, gospel, pop, hymns, and folk tunes. Simone covered the songs of artists and musicians that she admired, from Bob Dylan to Duke Ellington to the Beatles to George Gershwin. Jazz lover and music journalist Sylvia Hampton met and befriended the soul diva in the late 1950s. After that first meeting, they became close friends, corresponding regularly throughout Simone's lengthy international career. Hampton and her brother David Nathan delve into Hampton's collection of memorabilia, to create a vivid portrait of the singer.

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