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Mahalia Jackson
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Born on October 26, 1911 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Mahalia Jackson had one of the most unique and inspiring gospel voices ever recorded She was responsible for having expanded the gospel music audience. As the daughter of a preacher, she was allowed to sing only gospel music, although her heart was devoted to blues. In 1927, she moved to Chicago and opened her own beauty shop after studying at Madame C.J. Walker's beauty culture. In 1934, she recorded her first record entitled God Gonna Separate the Wheat from the Tares. She later recorded Move on up a Little Higher, which became her first big hit, selling over two million copies.
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Mahalia Jackson (October 26, 1911–January 13, 1972) was an African American gospel singer, widely regarded as one of the best in the history of the genre. She grew up in the "Black Pearl" section of the Carrollton neighborhood of uptown New Orleans, Louisiana and began singing in a Baptist church. She moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1927 where she sang with The Johnson Brothers, one of the earliest professional gospel groups.
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While she made some recordings in the 1930s, Mahalia Jackson had her first taste of success with “Move Up a Little Higher” in 1947, which sold a million copies. She became more in demand, making radio and television appearances. Jackson ... had a successful tour abroad in 1952, and became especially popular in France. She even had her own gospel program on the CBS television network in 1954 and scored a hit with “Rusty Old Halo” that same year. In 1958, she appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island, performing with Duke Ellington and his band. All during her career she focused on gospel music, refusing to sing secular music.
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To say that Mahalia Jackson had a heavenly voice may benefit heaven more than the singer. Jackson might not have invented gospel music, but she popularized it, making it respectable when many of the faithful were aghast at adding a jolt of jazz, unharnessed rhythm and a lightning bolt of blues to compositions praising the Lord.
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Mahalia Jackson spent a lifetime singing the sacred songs that she loved. "The Queen of Gospel Song" was born on October 26, 1911, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jackson grew up singing gospel at the Plymouth Rock Baptist Church, where her father was a preacher. At 16, she moved to Chicago, as many African Americans did around that time, and supported herself doing housekeeping and odd jobs. But she never stopped singing.
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Born in New Orleans in 1911, Mahalia Jackson grew up in Louisiana in a small home with her mother, her brother and many extended family members. Jackson loved singing in church and even at an early age her freely flowing gospel style was apparent. At the age of 16, she moved to Chicago and joined the Greater Salem Baptist Church choir. Mahalia Jackson performed as a soloist in churches and at funerals. Though her lively, energetic interpretations of songs were sometimes frowned upon by more formal churches – largely because of the apparent jazz and blues undertones in her vocal style - many smaller, forward-thinking churches had begun to take notice of Mahalia Jackson.
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Mahalia Jackson