Singer Bessie Smith (1894-1937), the highest-paid black entertainer of the 1920s, laid in an unmarked grave for 33 years. (Her estranged husband refused to buy her a tombstone, even pocketing money that was raised by fans for that purpose.) The situation was finally remedied by singer Janis Joplin and former Smith maid Juanita Green, who teamed up to purchase a stone. Its inscription reads ‘The Greatest Blues Singer in the World Will Never Stop Singing.’