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1.B.B. King B.B.金
Quote: "The way you see people is the way you treatthem, and the way you treat them is what they become."
名言：「你如何看待他人，就會如何對待他們；你如何對待他們，他們就會成為怎樣的人。」
Riley B. King was born in 1925 on acotton plantation near Itta Bena, Mississippi. He earned his nickname "B.B." (Blues Boy) while performing on Memphis's Beale Street. King's distinctive guitar style – featuring his "butterfly" vibrato and bent notes – developed because he couldn't sing and play at the same time, so he made his guitar "sing" the notes. His famous guitar "Lucille" wasn't just one instrument – it was a series of Gibson guitars he used throughout his career. The original Lucille was rescued from a fire in Twist, Arkansas, in 1949. King learned the name of the woman who caused
the fire was Lucille, so he named his guitar after her to remind himself never to fight over a woman or run into a burning building. Despite only having a fifth-grade education, King received honorary doctorates from multiple universities. He toured relentlessly, playing an average of 300 shows a year
well into his 70s. In 1970, he won his first Grammy Award for "The Thrill Is Gone," his signature song.
萊利·B·金1925年生於密西西比州伊塔貝納附近的棉花種植園。他在孟菲斯的比爾街演出時獲得「B.B.」（藍調小子）的綽號。金獨特的吉他風格－包括他的「蝴蝶」顫音和彎音技巧－源於他無法同時唱歌和彈奉他，所以他讓吉他來「唱」出音符。他著名的吉他「露西兒」不是單一把樂器－而是他職業生涯中使用的一系列吉布森吉他。最初的露西兒是1949年在阿肯色州特威斯特的一場大火中救出的。金得知引起火災的女子名叫露西兒，便用這個名字為吉他命名，提醒自己永遠不要為了女人打架或衝進燃燒的建築物。儘管只有小學五年級學歷，金獲得多所大學頒發榮譽博士學位。他不知疲倦地巡迴演出，即使70多歲仍年均演出300場。1970年，他憑藉代表作《TheThrill Is Gone》獲得首座葛萊美獎。
2.Aretha Franklin 艾瑞莎·富蘭克林
Quote: "Be your own artist, and always be confident inwhat you're doing. If you're not going to be confident, you might as well not be doing it."
名言：「做你自己的藝術家，永遠對自己在做的事充滿信心。如果你沒有信心，那就乾脆不要做。」
Aretha Louise Franklin, born in 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee, began singing gospel in her father's church at age 10. Known as the "Queen of Soul," she learned to play piano by ear despite never learning to read music. Franklin recorded her first album at age 14. Her path to success wasn't immediate – she struggled to find her voice in the industry until signing with Atlantic Records in 1966. The song "Respect," recorded in 1967, became an anthem for both the Civil Rights and Women's Rights movements. Franklin was the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. She performed at three presidential inaugurations: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. She won 18 Grammy Awards and sold over 75 million records worldwide. Franklin's voice was declared a "natural resource" by her home state of Michigan. Despite her success, she had a fear of flying that began in 1984, which led her to travel exclusively by bus for performances within North America. She could hear a piece of music once and reproduce it perfectly, demonstrating
her extraordinary musical memory.
艾瑞莎·路易斯·富蘭克林1942年生於田納西州孟菲斯，10歲就在父親的教堂唱福音歌曲。被譽為「靈魂樂之后」的她雖然不識譜，卻能用耳朵學會彈鋼琴。富蘭克林14歲時錄製首張專輯。她的成功之路並非一帆風順－直到1966年與大西洋唱片公司簽約前，她一直在尋找自己在業界的定位。1967年錄製的《Respect》成為民權運動和婦女權利運動的主題曲。她是1987年首位入選搖滾名人堂的女性藝人。她在三位總統就職典禮上表演：吉米·卡特、比爾·柯林頓和巴拉克·歐巴馬。她獲得18座葛萊美獎，全球唱片銷量超過7500萬張。她的故鄉密西根州將她的聲音列為「自然資源」。儘管事業有成，她自1984年起患上飛行恐懼症，此後在北美的演出都改搭巴士。她有過人的音樂記憶力，只要聽一遍就能完美重現樂曲。
3.Nina Simone 妮娜·西蒙
Quote: "Jazz is not just music, it's a way of life,it's a way of being, a way of thinking."
名言：「爵士樂不只是音樂，它是一種生活方式，一種存在方式，一種思考方式。」
Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in 1933 inTryon, North Carolina, Nina Simone's journey began as a classical pianist. She started playing piano at age three and practiced Bach, Chopin, and Beethoven
for hours daily. Her dreams of becoming the first African American concert pianist were crushed when she was denied admission to the Curtis Institute of Music, which she believed was due to racial discrimination. To support herself, she began playing in a small club in Atlantic City, where she was told she had to sing as well as play piano. To keep this work secret from her family, who considered such music "the devil's music," she adopted the stage name "Nina Simone" - "Nina" from a boyfriend's nickname for her, and "Simone" after actress Simone Signoret. Her classical training heavily influenced her unique playing style, often weaving Bach-like counterpoint into jazz standards. Simone's music became integral to the Civil Rights Movement, with songs like "Mississippi Goddam" written in
response to racial injustices. She spoke and sang in several languages, including English, French, and Hebrew, making her a true international artist. Despite struggling with bipolar disorder and depression throughout her life, she recorded over 40 albums and became known as the "High Priestess of Soul." Her distinctive voice, spanning contralto to soprano, and her ability to merge classical, jazz, blues, folk, and African chants created a unique sound that influenced generations of musicians.
妮娜·西蒙原名尤妮絲·凱瑟琳·韋蒙，1933年生於北卡羅來納州特萊恩，最初是位古典鋼琴家。她3歲開始彈鋼琴，每天練習巴哈、蕭邦和貝多芬的作品。她成為首位非裔美國音樂會鋼琴家的夢想，因被柯蒂斯音樂學院拒絕而破滅，她認為這是種族歧視所致。為了謀生，她開始在大西洋城的一家小俱樂部演出，那裡要求她除了彈鋼琴還要唱歌。為了對家人保密這份工作（他們認為這種音樂是「魔鬼的音樂」），她採用藝名「妮娜·西蒙」－「妮娜」是男友給她的暱稱，「西蒙」則來自演員西蒙·西涅。她的古典訓練深深影響她獨特的演奏風格，常在爵士標準曲中融入巴哈式的對位法。西蒙的音樂成為民權運動不可或缺的一部分，如《MississippiGoddam》就是回應種族不公而創作。她能用多種語言演唱，包括英語、法語和希伯來語，是真正的國際藝術家。儘管一生都與躁鬱症和憂鬱症抗爭，她仍錄製超過40張專輯，被譽為「靈魂樂的女祭司」。她獨特的嗓音橫跨女低音到女高音，能融合古典、爵士、藍調、民謠和非洲詠唱的能力，創造出影響世代音樂人的獨特音樂風格。