Nina Simone, the “High Priestess of Soul,” blended jazz, soul, gospel and folk, forging her own singular musical genre. A classically trained virtuoso pianist gifted with a powerful alto, she fused songcraft inextricably with activism, addressing racial injustice and empowerment through seminal recordings and riveting, legendary performances. Her boundary-defying music, alternately raw and tender, always conveyed unvarnished truth, inspiring generations of artists to be uncompromising in life and art.