The program, a departure from the station's usual 24-hour marathon on an artist's birthday, will include all of Holiday's records, live recordings, and radio and television appearances, as well as interviews with Holiday and those who collaborated with her.

Holiday made her recording debut with Benny Goodman in 1933, and sang with such jazz legends as Teddy Wilson, Roy Eldridge, and Lester Young. Her signature songs included "Strange Fruit," "Lady Sings the Blues," "Don't Explain," and "God Bless the Child," the latter her own composition. She died in 1959.