Nnenna freelon biography of martin luther king

American jazz singer and composer

Musical artist

Nnenna Freelon (born July 28, ) is an American jazz singer, composer, producer, and arranger.

Early life and education

Freelon was born Chinyere Nnenna Pierce to Charles and Frances Pierce in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she was raised.^[1] She has a brother Melvin and a sister named Debbie.

As a young woman, she sang extensively in her community and the Union Baptist Church and at St. Paul AME. She recalled, "I started singing in the church, like so many others"^[2] Nnenna graduated from Simmons College in Boston with a degree in health care administration.

For a while she worked for the Durham County Hospital Corporation, Durham, North Carolina.

Nnenna freelon biography of martin luther king

She suggests that her influences included several "not famous people" as well as Nina Simone and Billy Eckstine, whose records her parents played at home. "It's important to expose your children to a wide musical environment," she says.

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