Ma Rainey: Quick Facts


Facts

Also Known As Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett • Gertrude Malissa Nix Rainey
Born April 26, 1886 • Columbus • Georgia
Died December 22, 1939 (aged 53) • Rome • Georgia
Awards And Honors Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (1990)

Photos


Howlin Wolf, Chester Arthur Burnett, singing passionately into a microphone, 1964.
Howlin’ Wolf
American musician
Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
American musician
Celebrating Robert Johnson
Robert Johnson
American musician
Bessie Smith poses in a sleeveless dress with jeweled accents, smiling and standing against a draped backdrop in 1936.
Bessie Smith
American singer
Buddy Guy
Buddy Guy
American musician
Little Walter
Little Walter
American musician
Elmore James, wearing a suit and tie, sits holding an electric guitar, looking slightly to the side in a black-and-white portrait.
Elmore James
American musician
Hudie Ledbetter, known as Leadbelly, sits in a suit playing a 12-string guitar at Bank Street School in New York City, surrounded by children listening.
Lead Belly
American musician
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Jimmy Reed
American musician
The Queen of Soul
Aretha Franklin
American singer
Alberta Hunter
Alberta Hunter
American singer
The Genius
Ray Charles
American musician
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Tommy Johnson
American musician
Queen of the Blues
Dinah Washington
American singer
Charles Brown smiling and wearing a light-colored suit, posed at a piano with one hand on the keys in a black and white portrait.
Charles Brown
American singer
Sonny Boy Williamson II, c. 1960s
Sonny Boy Williamson
American musician
Mississippi John Hurt
Mississippi John Hurt
American singer and musician
Little Brother Montgomery
Little Brother Montgomery
American musician
Lonnie Johnson
Lonnie Johnson
American musician
Blind Lemon Jefferson, c. 1928
Blind Lemon Jefferson
American musician