Lady Sings the Blues is a 1972 American biographical musical drama film directed by Sidney J. Furie about jazz singer Billie Holiday, loosely based on her 1956 autobiography which, in turn, took its title from Holiday's song. It was produced by Motown Productions for Paramount Pictures. Diana Ross, in her feature film debut, portrayed Holiday, alongside a cast including Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, James T. Callahan, and Scatman Crothers. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards in 1973, including Best Actress for Diana Ross.

Plot

In 1928 Baltimore, Eleanora Fagan, Billie Holiday, is working as a housekeeper in a brothel. While home alone at her aunt's house, she is raped by a man who followed her from the brothel. She flees to her mother Sadie, who sets up a job cleaning for another brothel in Harlem. The brothel is run by Lorraine, a woman who pays Billie little money. Billie tires of scrubbing floors and becomes a prostitute, but later quits and returns to a nightclub to unsuccessfully audition to become a showgirl. After "Piano Man" accompanies Billie when she sings a song, club owner Jerry books her as a singer in the show.