It is incredible to me that until quite recently, I did not know who Rosetta Tharpe was, and it is only by chance that I realized who she was. I listen to a song called “Sister Rosetta” by The Noisettes quite frequently (listen here) as it is featured on one of the Twilight soundtracks, and just didn’t know it was referring to an actual person until one day, scrolling on Instagram, I saw this:
and thought it couldn’t be a coincidence. And sure enough, it wasn’t. Rosetta Nubin was born in 1915 is Arkansas, to cotton picker parents who were also singers. Her mother also played the mandolin and was a preacher, and encouraged Rosetta to start singing and playing the guitar at the age of 4. By the time she was 6, she was regularly joining her mother on stage for half-sermon-half-gospel-concert performances, and was a musical prodigy.
She of course came to have an exceptional career in her own right, recording over 12 albums and charting four singles, and is now known as the godmother of rock-and-roll. She chose her stage name, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, from her first husband’s last name, and kept it even after their divorce. She was known for her willingness to cross the line between the sacred and profane in her music, often performing gospel songs in nightclubs and bars, as well as her heavy distortion technique on the electric guitar, eventually leading to the genre we now know as electric blues. Famous singers from Johnny Cash to Little Richard have cited her as their favorite musician, and she has had an influence on all the great names (Elvis, Chuck Berry, Tina Turner, Karen Carpenter…the list goes on and on.)
She was outstanding, touring and recording music right until the eve of her unexpected death in 1973 at the age of 58. In 2007 she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, and in 2017 into the Tock and Roll Hall of Fame. When she began making music she was one of the only black women playing the guitar, and her influence, as mentioned above, is unprecedented. How is it that we know Elvis and Johnny Cash, and often recognize them as the first rock-and-roll performers, but not Sister Rosetta Tharpe?
Certainly it’s a rhetorical question, but I am still surprised and extremely disappointed every time I read about a woman who history has passed over in favor of a man. Our job, especially with the current state of affairs, is to do what we can to right these wrongs as we encounter them. So go and listen to some of Sister Rosetta’s music today, and the next time someone mentions Elvis or Johnny Cash in front of you, don’t hesitate to say her name.