Rosetta Tharpe
Born on March 20, 1915 Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a pioneer of twentieth-century music. Tharpe attained great popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her gospel recordings that were a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and rhythmic/early rock accompaniment. One of the most celebrated musicians of all time, Sister Rosetta Tharpe enjoyed a celebrity in the 1940s rarely attained by gospel musicians before or since. "She could play a guitar like nobody else you've ever seen She became gospel music's first crossover artist and its first great recording star, referred to later as "the original soulsister". She was an early influence on figures such as Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. At the encouragement of her mother, Tharpe began singing and playing the guitar from a very young age, and was by all accounts a musical prodigy. She began performing onstage with her mother from the age of four, playing the guitar and singing "Jesus Is on...