🔊🥳Today, February 21, 1933, Nina Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon, in Tyron, North Carolina. On January 16, 1970, her classic soul song ‘To Be Young, Gifted and Black’ peaked at no. 76 on the US Hot 100. The song comes from Simone’s live “Black Gold” album of 1969. In 1972, the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin tapped Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin, and Tom Dowd to produce her cover of Simone’s ‘To Be Young, Gifted and Black,’ dubbing it ‘Young, Gifted and Black.’