Nina Simone Illness: What Happened to Nina Simone?

Nina Simone was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the late 1980s. She was known for her temper and outburst of aggression. In 1985, Simone fired a gun at a record company executive, whom she accused of stealing royalties.

In 1995, while living in France, she shot and wounded her neighbour’s son with an air gun after the boy’s laughter disturbed her concentration and she perceived his response to her complaints as racial insults.

According to a biographer, Simone took medication from the mid-1960s onward, although this was supposedly only known to a small group of intimates. After her death, the medication was confirmed as the anti-psychotic Trilafon, which Simone’s friends and caretakers sometimes surreptitiously mixed into her food when she refused to follow her treatment plan.

Simone also battled breast cancer for several years before she died in her sleep at home in Carry-le-Rouet, on April 21, 2003.