Jackson, Mahalia

Jackson, Mahalia

(1911–72) gospel singer; born in New Orleans. Raised in the Baptist Church, she secretly listened to the blues recordings of Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey. Moving to Chicago in 1927, she joined a Baptist choir; in 1928 she joined the Johnson Gospel Singers and sang and acted in "religious plays" while touring with the group for some years. By the mid-1930s she had joined Thomas A. Dorsey and would tour with his gospel group until the late-1940s. Although she had recorded four sides for Decca in the late-1930s, none gained any notice; it was her 1947 recording of "Move Up a Little Higher" that sold a million copies and soon gained her the "queen of gospel" crown. She appeared on radio and television and by 1952 commenced touring in Europe. She sang at an inaugural party for President John F. Kennedy, at the 1963 March on Washington, and at the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr. She appeared in several movies but refused to sing in nightclubs or to sing secular songs (although she recorded Duke Ellington's "Come Sunday" in 1958). She is credited with having inspired a whole new generation of gospel singers and making gospel become appreciated throughout the world.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.