-New Urban CULTURE- Gospel Singer and Rock & Roll Pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe Honored as 2018 Inductee into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
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| One of the America's biggest stars and most popular musicians of the 1940's and 50's, Sister Rosetta Tharpe |
Known by music historians as Elvis's biggest influence , and as the gospel singer who could "shred" a Gibson guitar to pieces, Sister Rosetta Tharpe is one of the most influential music artists of the 20th century, in spite of not being a household name. Her showmanship, skill, and high energy playing on the electric guitar played an essential role in the conception of Rock & Roll music, and is being recognized now as she becomes a 2018 inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Rosetta Tharpe (neé Rosesther Atkins) was born the daughter of Arkansas cotton-pickers Katie Nubin and Willis Atkins, but raised by her traveling evangelist mother within the Church of God in Christ. At six years old, she began singing in church and playing guitar. When she later moved to Chicago with her mother, she soon immersed herself in the sounds of jazz and blues, and went on to attract a musical following. In 1938 after a short-lived first marriage, she moved to New York, where talent scout John Hammond featured her with Count Basie, and other entertainers in his celebrated "From Spirituals to Swing" concert at Carnegie Hall. Tharpe also appeared for a time as featured singer at the legendary The Cotton Club, recording catchy secular (but risqué) tunes that drew the ire of the church. Though she offended a segment of conservative churchgoing audiences with her temporary foray into pop music (which was later discovered came by way of contractual obligations rather than legitimately wanting to do so), Tharpe never left gospel music thereafter.Sister Tharpe was a pioneer in her guitar technique, being among the first popular recording musicians to use heavy distortion on her guitar. She was a precursory artist to the rise of electric blues and was a major influence on American artists Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, Little Richard, and Johnny Cash. Tharpe's 1963 European tour with Muddy Waters (and its' ensuing stop in Manchester, England) is cited by British guitarists Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Keith Richards as the landmark performance that influenced them, and her playing technique had a profound influence on the development of British blues in the 1960s.
