Lindsay Guion, Senior Entertainment Advisor to the Bessie Smith Estate, Touts Plans for Broadway Musical, Feature Film, Hollywood Walk of Fame Star and U.S. Postal Stamp Renewal
New York, NY — The profound and pioneering legacy of singer/songwriter/entertainer Bessie Smith, “The Empress,” is being gloriously prepped for a richly deserved and long overdue turn in the spotlight. A rollout of career-defining projects will make Bessie’s name, life and story as relevant and indelible today as when the artist dominated the recording and performing world’s in the 1920’s. Upon the induction of Smith’s granddaughter, Beverly Ann Clarke, as an honorary member to the board of The Bessie Smith Cultural Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee – by unanimous agreement – plans are underway for monumental memorials in Bessie Smith’s honor.
Before the Great Depression, Bessie was the highest paid black entertainer in the world, collecting as much as $2,000 a week to sing her compositions “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out,” “Empty Bed Blues” and more, accompanied by music legends such as Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman.
As the sole living heir to the estate of Bessie Smith, Beverly Ann Clarke could not be more-proud of the accolades or more excited for all that is yet to come. Clarke’s greatest dream is for the establishment of a Bessie Smith Foundation that will not only oversee the continuance of Bessie’s legacy but also be a launching space of discovery and support for exceptionally talented singers hailing from Chattanooga, TN where Bessie was born and Philadelphia which she called home. “My goal is for the foundation to establish generous arts scholarships to assist the finest singers and entertainers of tomorrow as they make their generations aware of the greatness of Bessie Smith who proudly paved the way before them,” Clarke states.
Overseeing the implementation of these plans is Lindsay Guion, Senior Entertainment Advisor to the Bessie Smith Estate (as well as Jack Gee, Jr., Bessie’s son). “In this time of Black History,” Guion notes, “it is my honor to represent and push forward the legacy of Empress Bessie Smith – the woman who single-handedly saved Columbia Records (formerly CBS Records, now Sony Music) back in its 1920’s recorded music infancy. The world needs to remember that Bessie Smith was to Columbia Records what Nat ‘King’ Cole later was to Capitol Records: a soulful saving grace.”
For more information, contact:
GUION PARTNERS, INC.
Public Relations Department
55 Wall Street
New York, NY 10005
212-851-3730
