'She's the first Black superstar': The forgotten history of blues trailblazer Mamie Smith (533 hits)

'She's the first Black superstar': The forgotten history of blues trailblazer Mamie Smith
By Charles Trepany, USA TODAY - Yesterday 5:00 AM

For Black History Month, we're sharing stories of overlooked entertainment trailblazers: those who made great strides and historic contributions to film, TV, music, literature and more.

Ella Fitzgerald. Billie Holiday. Beyoncé.

When most people think of historic Black female recording artists, these and other iconic singers likely come to mind.

But according to music historians, it's possible none of these women would have had the chance to achieve the soaring success they did without Mamie Smith blazing the trail before them.

In 1920, Smith gave a voice to Black female singers by becoming the first African American woman to make a blues recording. The record became a smash hit in Black communities across the country, revolutionizing the blues genre and opening the doors of popular music to Black female artists.

READ MORE: 'She's the first Black superstar': The forgotten history of blues trailblazer Mamie Smith https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/she-s... Posted By: Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
Tuesday, February 15th 2022 at 8:25AM
You can also click here to view all posts by this author...