Nina Simone biographical timeline

Nina Simone is born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina on February 21, 1933.

Simone graduates from Allen High School for Girls in Asheville, North Carolina. She spends the summer at the Juilliard School as a student of Carl Friedberg, preparing for an audition at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Her application was later denied, which Simone believed was due to racial discrimination.

Simone's first public performance under the name "Nina Simone" at the Midtown Bar and Grill in Atlantic City.

Simone records her first album, "Little Girl Blue," a mixture of jazz, blues and classical.

"Little Girl Blue" is released. After the album's success, Simone signs a contract with Colpix Records and records a number of studio and live albums, including live albums "Nina Simone at Town Hall" and "The Amazing Nina Simone."

Simone’s music and voice become intertwined with the civil rights movement.

Release of her album, "Nina at Newport."

Release of her studio album, "Forbidden Fruit," Simone's fifth album since "Little Girl Blue."

Release of albums "At the Village Gate" and "Nina Simone Sings Ellington."

“Mississippi Goddamn” is written and released in response to the assassination of Medgar Evers and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

Simone signs to Philips Records, a Dutch company that allows her to record songs that draw on her African American heritage. Release of her studio album, "Broadway - Blues - Ballads."

Release of her studio albums, "Let It All Out," "I Put a Spell on You" and "Pastel Blues."

Release of her studio album, "Wild Is the Wind."

Release of her studio albums, "High Priestess of Soul," "Nina Simone Sings the Blues" and "Silk & Soul."

Release of her studio and live album, "'Nuff Said!"

Release of her studio album, "Black Gold."

Release of her studio album, "Gifted & Black."

Release of her 13th studio album, "Here Comes the Sun."

Simone leaves the United States for Barbados. She relocates to Liberia, then to various places in Europe, where she spends the rest of her life.

Release of her 14th studio album, "Baltimore."

Release of her final album, "A Single Woman."

Nina Simone dies at her home in Carry-le-Rouet, France at the age of 70.

Simone's childhood home in Tryon, North Carolina is designated a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.