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    Singer Ella Fitzgerald was abused, had mafia ties and was homeless before becoming the 'Queen of Jazz.'

    She would go on to sing for President Ronald Reagan in 1981, but before becoming "arguably the finest female jazz singer of all time," Fitzgerald was abused by her stepfather when her mother died at a young age, according to PoemHunter.com.

    She worked with the mafia for some time before the police put her in a school for girls.

    Fitzgerald ran away from there and was homeless until debuting at the Apollo Theater in 1934. Her voice quickly won her fame and throughout her career, she won 13 Grammy Awards and received medals from both President Reagan and George H. W. Bush.

    She died in 1996, but her face appeared on a United States postal stamp in 2007.