Who is gertrude ma rainey

Rainey passed away as the result of a heart attack on December 22, View objects relating to Ma Rainey. Privacy Terms of Use. Skip to main content. Share this Article. Facebook Twitter Email. Share this Snippet. Star Featured Content. Hank Aaron Baseball. Trending Trending. Max Cleland Political Figures. Clock Updated Recently. Hoke Smith 1 day ago.

Max Cleland 12 hours ago. Citizens Trust Bank 1 week ago. After nearly twenty years of dramatic performances on the stage, Rainey signed a contract with Paramount records in , only three years after the first blues recording was produced. She recorded almost records between and with a wide variety of the best contemporary musicians, including a young Louis Armstrong.

During this period, she continued to travel and perform across the South and occasionally in Chicago where she recorded. Other music forms gained popularity in the late s, and as the Great Depression set in the demand for performers almost disappeared. A great contributor to America's rich blues tradition, Rainey's music has served as inspiration for African American poets such as Hughes and Sterling Brown, the latter of whom paid tribute to the majestic singer in the poem "Ma Rainey," which appeared in his collection Southern Road.

In Black Pearls , Daphane Harrison praised Rainey as the first great blues stage singer: "The good-humored, rollicking Rainey loved life, loved love, and most of all loved her people.

Her voice bursts forth with a hearty declaration of courage and determination — a reaffirmation of Black life. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives.

Ma Barker was the matriarch of the Barker-Karpis Gang, whose spree of kidnappings, murderers and bank robberies led to her and its members' violent deaths. Singer Janis Joplin rose to fame in the late s and was known for her powerful, blues-inspired vocals. She died of an accidental drug overdose in Jazz and blues vocalist Bessie Smith's powerful, soulful voice won her countless fans and earned her the title "Empress of the Blues.

Handy was an African American composer and a leader in popularizing blues music in the early 20th century, with hits like "Memphis Blues" and "St. Louis Blues. Yo-Yo Ma is an acclaimed cellist and songwriter who has produced dozens of albums and won 18 Grammy Awards.