new york city, brothel, jazz singer or musician, mental breakdown, biography, addiction, rape victim, tour bus, racism, based on memoir or autobiography, period drama, drug overdose, music history, lynching, dying young, black singer, withdrawal, heroin addict, nightclub singer, blues music, billie holiday, harlem, new york city, carnegie hall, rise to fame, wayward girl, death of a musician, music tour, 1940s, somber, 1930s, following one's dream, desperate, former prostitute, period film, straight jacket, cautionary, black woman, cultural icon, woman's story, disheartening, powerful, woman musician, loosely based on historical events, deep south racism, kkk rally,