Biography Of Sister Rosetta Nubin Tharpe

Rosetta Nubin Tharpe famously known as “Sister Rosetta” Tharpe was an African American gospel singer who popularized this genre of music among secular audiences. She impacted American music history by being one the pioneers whose guitar technique helped shaped the sound that eventually evolved into the rock-and-roll style. Because of this she coined the name – The Godmother of Rock-and-Roll.
Rosetta Tharpe was born in Cotton Plant, Arkansas (Woodruff County) on March 20, 1915, to Katie Bell Nubin Atkins-an evangelist, singer, and mandolin player for the Church of God in Christ (COGIC)-and Willis Atkins.” (Encyclopedia of Arkansas). With the help and encouragement of her mother, Sister Rosetta began singing and playing the guitar on stage and

Both her and her mother continued to perform religious concerts at their COGIC church and also travelled occasionally throughout the country to perform at other church conventions. Because of this Tharpe’s fame grew and she became a musical prodigy, being known as a prominent black female guitarist. After working with her mother for all of these years she moved to New York in the mid 1930’s the following the advice of several Chicago promoters. It was here where she married a COGIC pastor by the name of Thomas Thorpe who had also travelled with her on many tours before. Tharpe was only 19 at the time. Their marriage only lasted a short time, but she incorporated a version of his last name – changing the spelling from “Thorpe” to “Tharpe” and using it as her stage name. In the late 1940’s she married again for a second time to a promoter named Fosh

On July 3, 1951 Rosetta Tharpe married again for the third time to Russell Morrison who was her manager. The ceremony was held at Griffith Stadium in Washington, DC. Due to Tharpe being so widely known 25,000 people paid to attend her wedding as it featured a performance by Tharpe herself and finished off with a huge fireworks display.
In 1953 while still partnered with Marie Knight, Rosetta and Knight tried to enter back into the secular side of the music industry and record a blues album together. This proved to be unsuccessful so they both partied ways shortly after the album release. Neither artist never fully recovered from this as the religious community who was their most loyal fan base felt betrayed by them. Not long after Tharpe lost her contract with Decca. She did however resign with Mercury Records in the late 1950’s and continue to work and tour in Europe and the United States. She performed with James Cleveland at the Apollo in Harlem in 1957 and also performed in 1967 at the Newport Jazz