On March 4, 1954, Charlie Parker was fired from his gig at Hollywood's Tiffany Club due to a dispute with the club's management, per The Guardian. It was the second time he had been fired that week, a week that would become one of the worst of his life and an indirect catalyst leading to his death.

Two nights later, on March 6, Parker's two-year-old daughter, Pree, died of pneumonia, per the Independent. Parker's reaction involved excessive amounts of alcohol and several intense telegrams sent to his wife. "MY DAUGHTER IS DEAD," the fourth telegram read (via The Guardian). "I KNOW IT. I WILL BE THERE AS QUICK AS I CAN. IT IS VERY NICE TO BE OUT HERE. PEOPLE HAVE BEEN VERY NICE TO ME OUT HERE. I AM COMING IN RIGHT AWAY TAKE IT EASY. LET ME BE THE FIRST ONE TO APPROACH YOU. I AM YOUR HUSBAND. SINCERELY, CHARLIE PARKER."

"Pree's death ... was the downward spiral," Parker's stepdaughter, Kim, said in a 2015 interview with KC Jazz Ambassadors (via Bird Lives). "There was probably a little feeling inside him that he did this to Pree. His drugs and alcohol and all that stuff, that his excesses had somehow poisoned her."

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunCAkm1wcGhfqbWmedKtqZqml5p6pbHArZ9mp5ZisKmt0aWgnmWglr%2BssdFo