Nina Simone Quiz: Jazz Standards and Civil Rights Songs

This Nina Simone quiz sits at the piano with the High Priestess of Soul. Play an interactive set of 10 questions on Tryon, North Carolina, classical training, the Curtis Institute rejection, I Loves You, Porgy, Feeling Good, Mississippi Goddam, To Be Young, Gifted and Black, My Baby Just Cares for Me and her later life in France.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Birth
What was Nina Simone's birth name?
Home
Which state is she from?
Train
Which kind of music did she first train in?
Curtis
Which music school rejected her, a blow she linked to racism?
Porgy
Which Gershwin song became her first big hit?
Protest
Which 1964 song responded to racist violence in the South?
Gifted
Which song celebrates Black youth?
Feeling
Which 1965 recording became a widely used anthem?
Nickname
What nickname did she earn?
Later
In which country did she spend her final years?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What was Nina Simone's birth name?
Answer: Eunice Kathleen Waymon
She was born in 1933.
Q2: Which state is she from?
Answer: North Carolina
She grew up in Tryon.
Q3: Which kind of music did she first train in?
Answer: Classical piano
She dreamed of concert halls.
Q4: Which music school rejected her, a blow she linked to racism?
Answer: The Curtis Institute
It changed her path.
Q5: Which Gershwin song became her first big hit?
Answer: I Loves You, Porgy
It came out in 1959.
Q6: Which 1964 song responded to racist violence in the South?
Answer: Mississippi Goddam
It became a civil rights anthem.
Q7: Which song celebrates Black youth?
Answer: To Be Young, Gifted and Black
Many artists covered it.
Q8: Which 1965 recording became a widely used anthem?
Answer: Feeling Good
It appears in many ads.
Q9: What nickname did she earn?
Answer: The High Priestess of Soul
She disliked labels.
Q10: In which country did she spend her final years?
Answer: France
She died there in 2003.

Nina Simone Quiz – Jazz Standards and Civil Rights Songs

Nina Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina, in 1933 and trained as a classical pianist. After the Curtis Institute rejected her, a decision she linked to racism, she began playing in clubs and took the name Nina Simone.

Her version of Gershwin's I Loves You, Porgy became a hit in 1959. She mixed jazz, blues, gospel and classical styles on songs like Feeling Good and My Baby Just Cares for Me.

During the civil rights movement she wrote Mississippi Goddam and To Be Young, Gifted and Black. Known as the High Priestess of Soul, she spent her final years in France and joined the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

What This Quiz Teaches

Music fans will enjoy these questions.

Where she came from
How she trained
Which songs she recorded
How she supported civil rights
Where she lived later

Did You Know?

My Baby Just Cares for Me became a UK hit in 1987.
She received an honorary degree from Curtis shortly before her death.
Her music is often sampled by hip-hop artists.
Four Women tells the stories of four Black women.
A 2015 documentary explored her life.