Queen Latifah stars in an upcoming HBO biopic about jazz singer Bessie Smith, who proudly loved both women and men. The film focuses on Smith’s transformation from a struggling young singer into “The Empress of the Blues,” who became one of the most successful recording artists of the 1920s and is an enduring icon today. Director and writer Dee Rees, of Pariah fame, says the film will not shy away from Smith's sexuality. She says the biopic will show the singer's strength of will and refusal to conform, telling the Daily Mail: “Bessie never walks around things. She just walks right through it.” Bessie Smith died in a car accident in 1937, aged just 43. GayNZ.com staff - 7th April 2015