 Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in South Carolina but raised in Tryon , North Carolina . The sixth of eight children in a poor family , she began playing piano at age three ; the first song she learned was " God Be With You , <unk> We Meet Again " . <unk> a talent with the instrument , she performed at her local church . But her concert debut , a classical <unk> , was given when she was 12 . Simone later said that during this performance , her parents , who had taken seats in the front row , were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white people . She said that she refused to play until her parents were moved back to the front , and that the incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement . 
