Adelaide Hall (1901–1993) was a black American singer who made her home in Britain. Her long career spanned eight decades. She is especially remembered by us for an occasion where she was reported to have bravely sung through the night – totalling fifty-four songs – in the Lewisham Hippodrome, during a particularly frightening wartime air raid.
Adelaide Louise Hall was born on 20 October 1901 in Brooklyn, New York. Her father, William, was of African descent. Her mother, Elizabeth, was of Dutch and North American Indian heritage. She had one younger sister, Evelyn. The family were poor. However, Adelaide’s father could play musical instruments. Because of this they relocated to the Harlem district of New York where William could teach piano. It was he who encouraged Adelaide to perform from early childhood with the phrase “Sing to the moon and the starts will shine.” Adelaide spoke of having a happy childhood, prior to the untimely death of her father in 1917 and then her sister in 1920.
Adelaide became a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, which brought African American artists to prominence for the first time. She began singing in nightclubs from 1921. She made her professional stage debut as a chorus girl in the 1921 Broadway musical ‘Shuffle Along.’ She then went on to gain a singing part in the 1923 Broadway musical ‘Runnin’ Wild.’
In 1923 Adelaide met her husband to be, Bert Hicks, a handsome and worldly Trinidadian-British officer in the Merchant Navy. They were married in 1924. Thereafter Bert managed Adelaide’s career.
In 1925 Adelaide travelled across Europe as part of the ‘Chocolate Kiddies’ a touring revue. In 1926 she returned to New York, starring in further Broadway shows and touring the United States as a singer and as part of revues. In 1927 she made the recording ‘Creole Love Call’ with jazz legend Duke Ellington. In 1928 she had her first major role in the popular Broadway production ‘Blackbirds’. She also travelled with this show to perform in the Moulin Rouge in Paris. More commercial success followed with Adelaide starring in the Broadway musical ‘Brown Buddies’ in 1930. She embarked on a world concert tour throughout 1931 and 1932.
Returning to New York in 1932, Adelaide and Bert moved to the exclusive village of Larchmont in the New York suburb of Westchester County. Here Adelaide had to publicly face down racism from the wealthy white community. She did this with grace, asserting her equal right to live there as an American citizen. She also spoke proudly of her native American heritage.
Adelaide’s career continued to flourish. In 1933 she sang at the Harlem Opera House and conducted an American concert tour, including a celebrated stint at the prestigious Chicago World Fair, before returning to New York for the ‘Stormy Weather Revue’. In 1934 she starred in ‘Chocolate Soldiers’ at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Also that year Adelaide headlined a show at the famous Cotton Club nightclub in New York. During 1935 Adelaide conducted a coast-to-coast concert tour of America and Canada.
From 1935 to 1938 Bert and Adelaide based themselves in Paris. As well as singing at major Paris venues and European touring, they opened their own nightclub in Paris – La Grosse Pomme (The Big Apple). In 1938 Adelaide accepted a role in the London West End musical ‘The Sun Never Sets.’ Choosing to settle in London, they took over the popular London nightclub the ‘Florida Club’ and Adelaide frequently recorded with the BBC.
With the outbreak of World War Two in 1939 Americans were advised to leave Britain, but Adelaide, married to a British subject, was able to and chose to remain. She performed across Britain throughout the War. Towards the end of the war, Adelaide also travelled extensively to Germany entertaining troops with ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association).
Adelaide’s career continued to flourish in Britain after the War. She worked in variety shows across the country, West End musicals, recording music, radio and television. Bert died in London in 1963. Adelaide continued her singing career. In fact, Adelaide was still touring internationally into her nineties. Adelaide died in London on 7 November 1993.
The incident we particularly recall Adelaide for occurred on 26 August 1940. Summer 1940 marked the end of the Battle of France and the beginning of the Battle of Britain. Following France’s surrender to Nazi Germany on 22 June 1940, a fierce German air campaign against Britain was begun.
On the evening of 26 August 1940 Adelaide Hall was appearing at the Lewisham Hippodrome as part of the popular touring BBC variety show ‘Youth Takes A Bow.’ During Adelaide’s set the air raid sirens rang out and planes could be heard overhead and explosions outside. According to The Stage newspaper General manager, Ernest Vincent, briefly interrupted to announce that the show would go on, until such time as it was safe for patrons to leave. This, it turned out, would not be until the early hours of the following morning. Adelaide famously kept singing until then. In the following days newspapers in London and around the world commended Adelaide for singing an incredible fifty-four songs that night!
The timing of this Lewisham Hippodrome event was just before deliberate mass bombing of civilian targets in London began in September 1940. Later in the War, like many Londoners, Bert and Adelaide lost both their business (the Florida Club) and their home to bombings.
In interviews Adelaide gave in the final years of her life, such as her appearance on BBC radio show Desert Island Discs in 1991, there is an echo of the phrase her father passed onto her as a child – Sing to the moon and the stars will shine. Adelaide speaks of a life spent singing with the hope she could bring joy to people and help them forget their troubles and worries.
We acknowledge that important details in this article are thanks only to the work of Iain Cameron Williams who spent a lot of time speaking with Adelaide whilst she was still alive and went on to publish the biography Underneath a Harlem Moon: The Harlem to Paris Years of Adelaide Hall in 2002.