25. Also in 1958, Nina released her first single and scored her only top-20 hit
After ironing out her differences with Sid Nathan – or, more accurately, browbeating him into submission – Nina’s cover version of I Loves You, Porgy, from George Gershwin’s opera, Porgy and Bess, was sent to local radio stations. Nina used her classical training to improve the song, and really made it her own. It was so popular that DJs would play it several times in a row but, incredibly, Nina had to fight Nathan tooth and nail to convince him to release it as a single. When finally released, it reached the Billboard Top 20 chart in 1959, making Nina a star almost overnight.