Birthday Greetings Mahalia Jackson the “Queen of Gospel”
🎂Mahalia Jackson earning the title as the “Queen of Gospel” was born on (October 26, 1911), in New Orleans. With her potent contralto voice and huge range, her performances were packed with intense emotion that touched every soul in the house. She adapted the style of the pioneer blues singer Bessie Smith, so much so Jackson singing style inspired rhythm and blues, soul and rock and roll.
In 1947, Mahalia made two gospel firsts by selling two million copies of the released “Move On Up a Little Higher”, which hit #2 selling on the Billboard charts. Mahalia became the first gospel recording artist to tour Europe. In 1958, she appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island, performing with Duke Ellington and his band. Ellington and Jackson worked together on an album released the same year under Columbia Records titled Black, Brown and Beige.
During the 1960s, Mahalia was very involved in the civil rights movement singing in fundraisers and at the March on Washington. She was a loyal supporter of Martin Luther King, Jr. and a personal family friend. At his funeral (1968) she was requested to sing “I Been ‘Buked and I Been Scorned.” She performed her final concert in Munich, Germany, in 1971, one year before her death. The Mahalia Jackson Documentary,
ROUTES Roots: Mahalia Jackson, A voice only for the celebration of God | 8/1978
ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Fotograf: Comet Photo AG (Zürich) / Com_L10-0125-0004 / CC BY-SA 4.0, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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