Question 1

True or false: Nina Simone once worked as a backup singer for Elvis Presley in the 1950s.

Accepted Answer

False. She never sang for Elvis; she started as a pianist in Atlantic City clubs and had a very different musical path.

Question 2

True or false: Simone's song 'Mississippi Goddam' was banned from radio in several Southern states.

Accepted Answer

True. The song, written after the 1963 Birmingham church bombing, was openly critical of segregation and pulled by many stations.

Question 3

True or false: Nina Simone was a trained classical pianist who applied to the Curtis Institute of Music.

Accepted Answer

True. She was rejected from the Curtis Institute, which she believed was due to racism, though she later received an honorary degree.

Question 4

True or false: Nina Simone legally changed her name to avoid being associated with her civil rights activism.

Accepted Answer

False. She adopted the stage name 'Nina Simone' to hide her nightclub singing from her strict mother, not from activism.

Question 5

True or false: Simone's first major hit was a cover of George Gershwin's 'I Loves You, Porgy' in 1959.

Accepted Answer

True. Her 1959 recording of 'I Loves You, Porgy' from Porgy and Bess became her only Billboard Top 20 single.

Question 6

True or false: Nina Simone was diagnosed with bipolar disorder later in life and took medication for it.

Accepted Answer

True. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the 1960s and treated with medication, though she often resisted it.

Question 7

True or false: Simone briefly left the US and lived in Liberia during the 1970s due to political disillusionment.

Accepted Answer

True. Frustrated with US racism and the FBI's surveillance, she moved to Liberia in 1974, then Barbados, and later Europe.

Question 8

True or false: Nina Simone was born in North Carolina and later became a citizen of France.

Accepted Answer

False. She was born in North Carolina and lived in France, but never became a French citizen; she remained a US citizen.

Nina Simone Trivia Questions