Rosetta Tharpe was a huge star in her era and set the template for rock and roll. So why was she absent from popular consciousness after her death — and why did it take decades to revive her legacy?
The video, part of a series in which pre-MTV artists retroactively join the video age, brings Davis' late-life visual art in dialogue with a classic piece of his music.
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.
Making her fifth appearance on Mountain Stage since 2006, Grammy-winning vocalist Catherine Russell treated the audience to songs off her latest album, Alone Together.
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.