Singer/Songwriter
United States
Odetta
Odetta рдХрд╛ рдкрд░рд┐рдЪрдп
рд╣реЛрдордЯрд╛рдЙрди
Birmingham, AL, United States
рдЬрдиреНрдо рддрд┐рдерд┐
December 31, 1930
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Singer/Songwriter
Called the тАЬqueen of American folk musicтАЭ by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Odetta crafted emotionally wrenching roots music that served as a spiritual compass for the civil rights movement. Born Odetta Holmes in Alabama in 1930, the singer spent most of her youth in L.A., where she studied music and theater. Though Odetta possessed a voice powerful enough for opera, she gravitated toward folk ballads, African-American spirituals, and country blues. Beginning with her 1956 debut, Sings Ballads and Blues, she released a clutch of folk-revival classics that influenced activists and artists alike, including Rosa Parks, Bob Dylan, and the poet Maya Angelou. Her performance of the gospel traditional тАЬIтАЩm on My WayтАЭ at 1963тАЩs March on Washington cemented her legacy as a crucial voice of Black liberation. After recording very little throughout the тАЩ70s and тАЩ80s, Odetta made a grand return with 1999тАЩs Blues Everywhere I Go, an album featuring some of her gutsiest blues. Despite suffering from heart disease and being confined to a wheelchair, the folk icon continued performing right up to her death in December 2008, mere weeks before she was to appear at President Barack ObamaтАЩs inauguration.
рдЗрдирдХреЗ рд╕рдорд╛рди: Odetta
Odetta рдЬреИрд╕реЗ рдФрд░ рд╕рдВрдЧреАрдд рдФрд░ рдХрд▓рд╛рдХрд╛рд░реЛрдВ рдХреЗ рдмрд╛рд░реЗ рдореЗрдВ рдЬрд╛рдиреЗрдВ, рдЬреИрд╕реЗ The Weavers, Barbara Dane, Dave Van Ronk
