Bessie

Queen Latifah stars as legendary blues singer Bessie Smith in this HBO drama that focuses on Smith's transformation from a struggling young singer into one of the most successful recording artists of the 1920s and an enduring icon today. This HBO drama explores the remarkable career of the "Empress of the Blues," Bessie Smith (Queen Latifah), whose immense talent and love for music took her from anonymity in the rough-and-tumble world of vaudeville to the 1920s blues scene and international fame. Accompanied by her brother Clarence, Bessie is mentored early on by blues legend Ma Rainey, who, like Bessie, enjoys the company of women. Bessie quickly becomes a rising star in Rainey's Black Bottom Revue, which creates friction between the two and leads to a parting of the ways. Undaunted, Bessie organizes her own show, writing songs, taking on male and female lovers, brawling, drinking, selling millions of records, and selling out theaters. Amidst a tumultuous relationship with husband/manager Jack Gee, Bessie's legend reaches mythic proportions after facing down the KKK at a show in North Carolina. Later, weathering the breakup of her marriage and the loss of an adopted child, Bessie's career stalls during the Great Depression. But true to her tenacious spirit and unapologetic style, Bessie reinvents herself and, after an inspirational reunion with Rainey and her true love, Richard, launches a successful comeback with the help of John Hammond, a blues and jazz devotee and producer. (HBO Europe)