Nina Simone was an American singer, pianist, composer, and civil rights activist whose musical identity blended classical technique with jazz, blues, folk, and gospel. Renowned for her emotional intensity and social consciousness, she used her voice and piano as instruments of both beauty and protest. With a repertoire spanning intimate ballads to powerful anthems like “Mississippi Goddam” and “Sinnerman,” Simone remains one of the most influential and distinctive figures in 20th-century music.