NINA AT 90

Verve Records and UMe will celebrate Nina Simone this year in honor of what would have been her 90th birthday. The "Happy Birthday, Miss Simone" campaign will extend to new music, compilations, a video and merch.

The first official music video for Simone’s 1965 rendition of “I Put a Spell on You” was released today, and her entire UMG catalog is now available to stream in immersive Dolby Atmos spatial audio.

Music releases will start arriving with the 5/12 bow of the 12-track Verve hits collection Great Women of Song: Nina Simone. This is the first edition of the series, which will also see compilations dedicated to Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.

In June, Verve will issue You’ve Got to Learn, a previously unreleased Simone live album recorded at the 1966 Newport Jazz Festival. And in August Verve/UMe’s audiophile vinyl reissues series, Acoustic Sounds, will release a pressing of Simone's 1966 studio album Wild Is the Wind. Then, in October, all seven of the artist's 1960s Philips albums will be brought together in the LP collection Four Women: The Nina Simone Complete Recordings 1964-1967.

Said UMe President & CEO Bruce Resnikoff, “Nina Simone’s music and message remain as vitally important today as ever, perhaps more so. We look forward to celebrating her genius and influence all year long."

"There's no way to adequately describe the impact Nina Simone continues to have on music and culture," reads a quote from Verve boss Jamie Krents. "We're thrilled to be spending 2023 celebrating her life and legacy and continuing to help her music find new audiences around the world."

In related Nina news, a tribute concert at Carnegie Hall featuring vocalist Ledisi (and an orchestra conducted by Cheche Alara) is scheduled for 2/23.