Two-time Grammy nominee Andra Day takes the stage to sing “Strange Fruit” in a new trailer for “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.” The Hulu drama revisits how the federal government targeted Holiday in an attempt to prevent her from singing the controversial ballad protesting the lynching of Black Americans. Worried that “Strange Fruit’s” lyrics “provoke people” and Holliday is “causing a lot of people to think the wrong things,” government officials vow to silence the jazz musician with drug charges.
“It’s a song about important things — things that are going on in the country,” Holliday says in the spot. “Your grandkids will be singing ‘Strange Fruit.'”
Penned by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” launches on Hulu February 26.
