A contemporary of Rosetta Tharpe, gospel singer Mahalia Jackson had one of the great big, gorgeous voices of the 20th century, the echoes of which can still be heard in popular music today.
For many, Rosetta Tharpe's music represented a kind of healing, and the way she played inspired listeners — including writer Alice Randall — to find sweetness in the bitter of life.
In 1951, gospel star Rosetta Tharpe got married in front of thousands of fans at a baseball stadium. In some ways, says biographer Gayle Wald, it set the template for today's stadium rock concerts.
Robert Hunter was more than another gear spinning within the perpetual motion machine of the Grateful Dead — his songwriting helped define the group's narratives and bloom its philosophies.
Recorded after a traumatic period in the singer's life, Gloria Gaynor's disco hit quickly found its true audience: LGBT communities, survivors of domestic violence and others pushed aside by society.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a superstar of the pre-rock era, traveling the country in a customized bus and performing for tens of thousands, but never got press to match her stardom. What if she had?
Without Sister Rosetta Tharpe, we wouldn't have rock and roll as we know it now. Our playlist features some of Tharpe's best songs, as well as music from her influences and inheritors.
A Springsteen concert "created a civic space in which two antithetical sentiments could coexist and communicate with each other," writes A.O. Scott. The Boss turns 70 years old today.
How do you inhabit the world's most well-known Latin singer? For singers and actresses Aymée Nuviola and Jeimy Osorio, playing Celia Cruz meant staying in touch with pain, joy and destiny.