Sister Rosetta Tharpe & Me: Remembering Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s Profound Effect on Music on Her 110th Birthday

Sister Rosetta Tharpe is like a golden thread woven through a colorful tapestry of music history. In her own right, as one of gospel’s first major superstars in the 1930s and 1940s, her music stands alone and glimmers like gold dust sprinkled on everything that follows. Tharpe, a Black, queer woman, who created rock ‘n roll — or at least changed it forever when she added reverb to gospel and blues music in the 1950s — would have been 110 today, March 20.

Tharpe’s music bridges the gap between the roots of secular gospel music and the non-secular branches of rhythm & blues, soul, and early rock n’ roll. She is like King Midas with a golden fountain of inspiration from which so many artists have sipped, later going on to weave their own golden threads in the tapestry. Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Elvis, Johnny Cash, Keith Richards, and more modern artists like Brittany Howard and The Wood Brothers can all trace musical lineage back to Sister Rosetta Tharpe. So can I.

As a female bandleader, I feel a particular kind of kinship with Sister Rosetta Tharpe — her powerful, joyful vocals and her unapologetic and inventive way to play the guitar— Sister Rosetta is a powerhouse of talent. She is a beacon of light with her voice, her charisma, her guitar playing and her full artistry. I want to have the same effect on every audience that I play and sing in front of, and I have set the intention to make my music reach just as deeply into the souls of the audience as possible. I want to leave people better, happier, and more at peace than when I first find them – that’s what drives me to deliver my best at every show. This is the entertainer’s singular job, in my opinion, and I learned that by listening to and learning from the legacies of people like Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

Tharpe, a Black, queer woman, created rock ‘n roll — born out of the church, dressed in fur coats and fancy dresses, slinging guitar solos with flare and showmanship. These last two are the things you still see at every rock ’n roll concert today — flare and showmanship abounds, as do epic guitar solos and Tharpe is the catalyst. Sister Rosetta, who died in 1973 at the age of 58, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018 in the “Early Influences” category. And an excerpt on her Hall of Fame information page explains exactly why. In essence, the emotion she summoned with her music was so profound it helped rock & roll achieve the impact of a secular religion.

Sister Rosetta is known for her guitar playing; she brightly stuck out amongst her male counterparts and she was told she played as well as a man, better, in fact. To ‘play as well as a man’ really is meant as a compliment —one I have also heard about my saxophone playing at shows.

The saxophone has always been a way for me to express my deepest emotions and you can make the saxophone growl, howl, scream, be subtle and beautiful, and everything in between. I like to think I have the same connection to my saxophone as Sister Rosetta Tharpe did with her guitar and I have definitely been inspired by her strive for a similar stage presence and charisma. Unbridled emotion, such as that in Tharpe’s singing and guitar playing, and, I hope, in my singing and saxophone playing, is what stirs up a crowd, makes them come alive, and allows them to feel unbounded joy.

I even wrote a song, “Rosetta,” which I recorded on my last Do It My Own Way (released in 2024). I wanted to “shout, sister, shout” from the rooftops how much Sister Rosetta and her fearless attack of music and the industry emboldened me as an artist.

I’d like to follow in her footsteps

And redefine a sound

I’d follow in her footsteps

And do somethin’ profound

She’s carried the torch so I can see a little bit better

How I love (love love love)

Yes, I love Sister Rosetta

Being an artist and bandleader is a very challenging and lonely road to traverse, but it’s comforting to know that other artists, like Sister Rosetta, have made the same trek. It feels like anything and everything is possible and I’m grateful strong women like Sister Rosetta Tharpe used metaphorical dynamite to carve a road through the mountain so that artists like me have a clearer path through it.

The music industry needs to make room for artists who may not fit the preconceived mold and who may scoff at the “norms” of the “system”, but who affect people so profoundly and so undeniably. Sister Rosetta Tharpe is proof that you can carve out your own little niche in the industry, even as male-dominated and racially segregated as it was and still is. I aim to make joyous and unapologetic music that moves and uplifts people and I do it through stories, original songs, my voice, and my saxophone. That, to me, is the legacy of Sister Rosetta Tharpe.