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"Classic Female Blues" or more accurately "Vaudeville Blues," was a field dominated by women singers that enjoyed its heyday in the 1920s.
- Artists
"Classic Female Blues" or more accurately "Vaudeville...
- I Thought About You
Explore I Thought About You by Dinah Washington. Get track...
- St. Louis Blues
Explore St. Louis Blues by Bessie Smith. Get track...
- Rock Me
Explore Rock Me by Albert Ammons, Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Get...
- Billie's Blues
Explore Billie's Blues by Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra....
- When It's Sleepy Time Down South
Explore When It's Sleepy Time Down South by Mildred Bailey....
- T.B. Blues
Explore T.B. Blues by Victoria Spivey. Get track...
- Artists
- Bessie Smith
- Koko Taylor
- Aretha Franklin
- MA Rainey
- Sister Rosetta Tharpe
- Janis Joplin
- Bonnie Raitt
- Big Mama Thornton
- Shemekia Copeland
- Etta James
Bessie Smith, the “Empress of the Blues,” was one of the highest-paid Black entertainers of her time. Raised in Tennessee, Smith had a following by the age of 9, and by the age of 16, she was touring. In her mid-20s, she struck out on her own and became one of the most famous blues singersof the 20th century. Her first hit, “Down Hearted Blues,” so...
Next, we have “The Queen of the Blues,” Koko Taylor, who was born Cora Ann Walton near Memphis, Tennessee, where her musical journey began by singing the blues as a child with her siblings. In 1952, Taylor and her husband moved to Chicago, where they frequented blues clubs. Soon she was discovered and given a recording contract. Taylor later record...
Aretha Franklin, “The Queen of Soul,” grew up in Detroit, where she sang in the church choir and eventually landed a contract with Columbia. Franklin could sing gospel, soul, and the blues equally as well, with many people considering her the greatest singer of all time. She mixed gospel and R&B styles and took blues to a new level, becoming the fi...
Gertrude “Ma” Rainey was an inspirational female blues singer who recorded her first song in 1923—more than 100 recordings followed over the next five years. Rainey was born in Georgia to minstrel performers and began performing as a teen. She was known for her “moaning” style of deep-throated singing and flashy stage presence. Rainey bridged the t...
Born Rosetta Nubin in Arkansas, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, aka “The Godmother of Rock n Roll,” came from a family of singers, evangelists, and cotton pickers. Her journey into the world of music began when she picked up the guitar at the age of four, and by the age of six, she was performing. Throughout her younger adolescent years, Tharpe began to dab...
Janis Joplinwas born and raised in Texas. She loved music as a child and sang in her church choir. After a few false starts in the business, Joplin joined The Big Brother band in 1966, with whom she had a breakout performance of “Ball n Chain” at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. Joplin’s raw singing style was like nothing anyone had heard. With her ...
Bonnie Raitt, a powerful yet unassuming blues singer-songwriter and activist, was born in California. She began playing guitar when she was eight, and her interest in blues and slide guitar began at age 14. She performed as a folk music artist while attending Harvard in the late 1960s and released her first self-titled album in 1971. Twenty albums ...
Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton was born in Alabama in 1926. She left home at 14 to join the Hot Harlem Review. By this time, Thornton was already an experienced singer, drummer, and harmonica player. She went on to gain a lot of fame as a blues singer-songwriter. She first recorded the songs “Hound Dog” and “Ball n Chain,” which later became huge h...
Next up is blues singer Shemekia Copelandwho was born in Harlem, New York. It turns out that blues is in the family as her father is blues artist Johnny Clyde Copeland. Copeland first performed at the Cotton Club when she was ten, and when she was 18, she released the Grammy-nominated album, Outskirts Of Love. Copeland’s music blends blues, R&B, an...
Next up, we have the legendary Etta James, who was born and raised in California. At five, she was singing in her church choir, and by her teens, she was singing with bandleader Johnny Otis. James launched her solo career in 1955 and signed with Chicago’s Chess Records in 1960. Chart-toppers like “All I Could Do Was Cry” and “At Last” followed. Jam...
- Scott Billington
- 4 min
- Ma Rainey. The singer Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, who became known to many through the film adaptation of August Wilson’s play, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, was a pivotal early blues figure, and a transitory figure between vaudeville and blues music.
- Bessie Smith. In the 1920s, the “classic” female blues singers were a nationwide phenomenon, dominating the field while guitarist/singers such as Blind Lemon Jefferson and Charley Patton were just beginning to record.
- Memphis Minnie. Lizzie “Memphis Minnie” Douglas was the first prominent female guitarist in the blues, playing with a virtuosic swagger that helped place her among the most popular blues artists of the 1930s and 1940s.
- Blue Lu Barker. When New Orleans native Louise “Blue Lu” Barker moved to New York with her husband, the guitarist Danny Barker, she was immersed in the city’s thriving jazz scene.
This article celebrates the lives and careers of these famous female blues singers, highlighting their contributions to music and their enduring influence on the genre. Join us as we explore the rich history and legacy of these remarkable women who have left an indelible mark on the blues.
- Listen: Mamie Smith and her Jazz Hounds - Crazy Blues (1920)
- Listen: Ma Rainey with Louis Armstrong - See See Rider Blues (1924)
- Listen: Bessie Smith - Downhearted Blues (1923)
- Listen: Ida Goodson plays and talks about her upbringing.
Nov 21, 2023 · Blues history would be a totally different story without its most talented ladies. This list of the greatest female blues singers takes listeners on a journey through some of the most powerful blues voices in American music history, charting a course through a truly unforgettable musical legacy.
Jun 15, 2021 · 50 Women In The Blues by Jennifer Noble (introduction by Zoe Howe). Supernova Books, 240 pp, pb, £19.99 from supernovabooks.co.uk. ISBN 978-1-913641-19-1. Noble's book gives short biographies of earlier female blues performers before focusing on more contemporary practitioners.
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