By The AFRO
Black Music Month has long been a time to celebrate the achievements, activism and work of Black creatives of every genre. From country and gospel to jazz and rhythm and blues, the indelible mark made by Black artists can never be forgotten.
Still today, we pay homage to those who used their talents to sing of the struggle, celebrate Black love, raise their voices in praise and more. Take a look below at some of the well known and some not so known Black music icons who shaped the music industry and American culture.
Mahalia Jackson is still the undisputed “Queen of Gospel Music.” She gained most of her fame while on tour in the 1930’s with the Greater Salem Baptist Church choir out of Chicago. Born Oct. 26, 1911, Jackson was a native of New Orleans, La. and heavily influenced by artists such as Bessie Smith and other family members who were in the entertainment industry. Her voice carried activists through the Civil Rights Movement while also ringing out in major art venues such as Carnegie Hall. Jackson died Jan. 27, 1972 in Chicago.
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Sept. 1936
Ethel Waters made her mark in the history books as a singer and actress hailing from Chester, Pa. Known as “Sweet Mama Stringbean,” by the age of 17 Waters was known in Baltimore for her performance of “St. Louis Blues.” The increasing fame led her to make a move to “The Big Apple”, where she began to appear on Broadway. Waters took part in multiple Broadway plays, including “Blackbirds” and “Rhapsody in Black.” She was so successful on stage that the movie industry came calling. She was in the film versions of the Broadway musicals “Cabin in the Sky” and “The Member of the Wedding.” Waters died Sept. 1, 1977 in Chatsworth, Calif.
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Oct. 1940
Hailing from Kansas City, Missouri, Big Joe Turner made a name for himself on the blues scene with his high-energy sound that today is recognized as a form of rock and roll. Born May 18, 1911, Turner is known for his hit records “Sweet 16” and “Shake, Rattle and Roll.” He played around the country with major big band leaders such as Count Basie and even made an appearance in 1938 at Carnegie Hall’s “Spirituals to Swing” concert. Turner died Nov. 24, 1985 in Inglewood, Calif. Shortly before his death, in 1983, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. In 1987, his name was added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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Jan. 1942
According to the Gospel Music Association (GMA), the famed Golden Gate Quartet became known while still attending Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk, Va. in the mid-1930s. Popular songs from the group include “Go Where I Send Thee,” “The Preacher and the Bear” and “When the Saints Go Marchin’ In.” Their voices took them around the world, and in 1959 the quartet secured a contract to entertain audiences at Casino de Paris for two years in France. Shown here, bass singer Landis Wilson (left), tenor Henry Owen, narrator baritone Willie Johnson and Clyde Riddick, who served as second tenor.
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Dec. 1944
Dorothy Donegan was a talented pianist and vocalist who was born in 1924. Her humble beginnings in the music industry earned her $1 a night in the night clubs of her hometown of Chicago. According to the National Endowment for the Arts, “Donegan was fluent in several styles of jazz as well as with European classical music.” In 1943 she became the first Black person to hold a concert in the Orchestra Hall in Chicago. She continued her career through the decades and in 1980 she broke the attendance record for all concerts previously held at the Sheraton Centre Hotel. Her career extended into the 1990s, and she died on May 19, 1998.
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Circa 1947
The roots of the Fisk University Jubilee Singers are inexplicably tied to the historically Black institution, Fisk University. The Nashville school opened in 1866, but within five years found itself struggling financially. In response, the Fisk treasurer and music professor, George L. White, decided to form a group of students into an a capella chorale. The date was Oct. 6, 1871. The students hit the road, and while on tour, picked up the name “The Jubilee Singers,” as a nod to the year of Jubilee mentioned in the Book of Leviticus, Chapter 25 of the Bible. Well over a century later, the Fisk Jubilee Singers are still invited to perform at some of America’s premier performance spaces and concert venues worldwide.
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March 1947
Hazel Dorothy Scott, born in Port of Spain, Trinidad in 1920, made a name for herself in the entertainment industry by playing two pianos at one time on stage. She starred in five Hollywood films as “herself” and demanded equal pay to her White co-stars, which made for a short but impactful career. Today she is seen as a woman who paved the way for current female pianists, such as Alicia Keys.
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Sept. 1963
Born May 31, 1931, mezzo-soprano Shirley Verrett, an alumna of The Julliard School, hailed from New Orleans, La. Her Seventh- Day Adventist upbringing in California undoubtedly shaped her path. Verrett debuted her pristine voice at the Metropolitan Opera in 1968 as the title character of “Carmen.” Her time on the Met stage spanned 32 years and more than 126 performances. Shown here, Verrett as she boards a jet at New York ‘s Iulewild airport enroute to London and Moscow where she’ll perform the lead role in “Carmen” at Bolshoi Opera. She was the first African American to perform with the famed Bolshoi Company.
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Feb. 1971
Julian “Cannonball” (left) and Nat Adderley broke into the music industry as The Adderley Brothers. The jazz musicians grew up in Tallahassee, Fl. and are still celebrated in their area, with Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) naming their music school after the two. They created the fusion jazz sound called “soul-jazz,” which was popular from the 1960s to the 1970s.
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Jan. 1973
Clara Ward is known as a phenomenal gospel singer who made a name for herself with the Ward Singers. The group consisted of her mother Gertrude Murphy Ward, and her sister, Willarene. The group changed in the 1950s and began to sing more secular music under a new name, The Clara Ward singers.
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June 1973
Shown here, Sylvia Robinson, singing “Pillow Talk” on Soul Train in June 1973. Robinson is credited as the producer of the first hip-hop single, the 1979 hit, “Rappers Delight,” by the Sugarhill Gang. As founder of the Sugar Hill label, the record executive wore many hats within the music industry. Most notably, she served as the visionary who saw hip-hop as a viable genre. Robinson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
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March 1980
Born Dec. 5, 1931, Reverend James Cleveland gained fame as a gospel artist. He grew up in the choir of Thomas A. Dorsey, who was a strong influence on his life. His talent on the piano was noticed early on in his life and would lead to his first song ever published “Grace is Sufficient” in 1948.