Featured In
ALBUMRoots of Rock & RollBig Mama Thornton
Albums by Big Mama Thornton
ALBUMRoots of Rock & RollBig Mama Thornton
ALBUMSassy MamaBig Mama Thornton
ALBUMHound Dog: The Peacock RecordingsBig Mama Thornton
ALBUMSassy Mama!Big Mama Thornton
ALBUMThe Way It IsBig Mama Thornton
ALBUMStronger Than DirtBig Mama Thornton
ALBUMBall n' ChainBig Mama Thornton
ALBUMBig Mama Thornton With the Muddy Waters Blues Band - 1966Big Mama Thornton & Muddy Waters Blues Band
ALBUMIn EuropeBig Mama Thornton
Artist Playlists
Big Mama Thornton Essentials
An unsung icon with a fierce growl and gospel-inspired delivery.
Artist Biography
Big Mama Thornton was a vibrant rhythm & blues shouter whose trademark growl was a major influence on generations of R&B and rock artists. While she never crossed over to the pop charts, two of her signature songs would become well known to rock fans -- she recorded "Hound Dog" four years before Elvis Presley had a hit with the tune, and she wrote "Ball & Chain," which Janis Joplin performed on Big Brother & the Holding Company's 1968 album Cheap Thrills. Thornton recorded well into the '70s and performed into the '80s, delivering her impassioned version of the blues -- gritty but swinging, and perfect for a rowdy Saturday night -- into the last years of her life. Her superb early singles are collected on the 1992 set Hound Dog: The Peacock Recordings, and 1966's In Europe is drawn from recordings of the American Folk Blues Festival tour of 1965.
Hometown
Ariton, AL, United States
Genre
Blues