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Queen Latifah's Bessie Smith Biopic Premieres Tonight on HBO

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This article is more than 8 years old.

Never one to get knocked down and not get right back up, Queen Latifah is making a triumphant return to television tonight a highly anticipated Bessie Smith biopic on HBO that has taken over two decades to complete.

Simply titled Bessie, the film follows the famed blues and jazz singer through her life, from growing up in Chattanooga, Tennessee to her early and unfortunate death in the late 1930’s. Also starring Oscar-winner Mo’Nique as fellow jazz titan Ma Rainey, the movie will show how the two interacted, with Rainey helping pave the way for Smith to make it big.

Though she passed away when she was only 43, Bessie Smith established herself as one of the most iconic figures in the jazz and blues scene in the early part of the 1900’s. She was already developing a following in the South around the time that female black singers started gaining popularity around the country, and she got her start with Columbia Records in the 1920’s. Her first real single release, “Downhearted Blues” went on to be a big hit and established her as a star right from the beginning. That song, along with two others from her impressive catalog (“St. Louis Blues” and “Empty Bed Blues”), would be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame decades after her death.

While portraying anyone who actually lived is always a challenge, this is not Latifah’s first go at a period picture. The singer and actress gave one of her best performances in Chicago, where she played the sassy prison warden Mama Morton. Latifah clearly knew how to play up the 20’s aspect, which lead to an Academy Award nomination (and likely helped her secure this role as well). Queen has had plenty of experience singing in films as well, thanks to her roles in Hairspray, Living Out Loud, and of course Chicago.

Bessie is Latifah’s first project in television since her daytime talk show, The Queen Latifah Show, was cancelled earlier this year after just two seasons. So far the film has been receiving mostly positive reviews from critics, and both Mo’Nique and Latifah always deliver solid performances in anything they do, so this is likely a safe bet, and a great sign that even if her show didn’t last long, Queen Latifah is far from done.