Andra Day Becomes Second Black Woman to Win a Golden Globe for Best Actress After Her Performance in ‘The United States Vs. Billie Holiday’

Actress, singer, and songwriter Andra Day made history after taking home a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in The United States Vs. Billie Holiday.

Day began the night in an iconic Chanel ensemble before receiving the honor of winning her first Golden Globe and becoming the second Black woman to ever win Best Actress in a Drama Motion Picture.

The United States Vs. Billie Holiday’s storyline follows the trials and tribulations of legendary jazz and swing singer Billie Holiday. According to Cosmopolitan Magazine, “the film is about how the government targeted Billie Holiday in the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s for her drug addiction because her song “Strange Fruit” was a call to action in the Civil Rights movement and they wanted to stop her at all costs. “Strange Fruit” is a graphic, provocative protest song about the history of lynching Black people in the South, and the film informs/reminds the audience at the very beginning that a 1937 bill to ban lynching did not pass.”

To this day there has still never been an anti-lynching law passed.

The US government hunted Billie Holiday for singing a song about black bodies being lynched but never convicted one person of lynching nor make it a federal crime. This is amerikkka✨✨

— The Casual Sex Captain (@jiggyjayy2) February 28, 2021

Andra Day as Billie Holiday 🥰 It’s the casting for me 🙌🏽#TheUnitedStatesVsBillieHoliday pic.twitter.com/tdk1PKerpr

— SinnamonS ♥ (@SinnamonS) February 27, 2021

Day won the Golden Globe best actress category over other nominees Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman), Frances McDormand (Nomadland), and Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman). The last Black woman to win in this category was Whoopi Goldberg for her performance in 1985’s The Color Purple.

According to one Twitter user, the resemblance between Holiday and Day is quite striking. Day’s talent certainly shone through in the film with her background as a singer and her tenacity as an actress.

See our full interview with #GoldenGlobe WINNER Andra Day: https://t.co/NbR24w5inC

— Access (@accessonline) March 1, 2021

After winning her award in an interview with Access Hollywood, Andra Day is surprised by her idol and role model Regina King. In the interview, King is asked, “How proud are you of her?”, King gleefully responds, “Oh my gosh!! Are you kidding me?!” as the two superstars continue to fangirl over each other celebrating Day’s historic win. Day explicitly states in the interview that her victory is the result of the blood spilled before her. She wants her to win to be the beginning of the expansion of Black excellence where it’s not surprising rather expected because that’s the way it should be.

Andra Day is incredibly deserving of her award and is definitely a force to be reckoned with. You can stream her stellar performance in The United States Vs. Billie Holiday here.