One of the world’s best gospel singers, Mahalia Jackson has a strong, commanding voice. Mahalia sang at the renowned Mount Moriah Baptist Church for the first time when she was a young child. She used this as a stepping stone and eventually rose to become the most well-known and revered gospel singer in the United States. “Move on Up a Little Higher” was one of her early career’s biggest hits, making her a well-known performer across the globe. Prominent musicians including Duke Ellington and Thomas A. Dorsey collaborated with her at the 1963 Washington March, which took place at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s request. Mahalia’s immense talent was matched by her loud voice, earning her the nickname “The Queen of Gospel.” Mahalia, who gained international recognition for her vigorous advocacy for civil rights, rose to prominence as a renowned, well-respected, and significant gospel vocalist. She also won numerous honors and titles, one of which was from the well-known performer Harry Belafonte, who called her the most powerful black lady in the entire country.
Childhood & Formative Years
On October 26, 1911, John A. Jackson Sr. and Charity Clark welcomed Mahalia Jackson into the world. She was raised in the uptown neighborhood of New Orleans’ Black Pearl neighborhood, which is part of the Carrolton neighborhood. Mahalia Clark-Paul, often known as Aunt Duke, was the inspiration behind her name.
She was raised in a three-room home on Pitt Street that housed a dog and thirteen other people. She shared the home with her mother Charity Clark and brother Roosevelt Hunter, whom she loved to call Peter. Her mother performed the roles of a laundress and a maid. The same house was inhabited by several more aunts and cousins.
Growing up in the Pitt Street hut, Mahalia had started singing at the renowned Mount Moriah Baptist Church at the age of four. She added the “i” to her name, Mahala, after birth, after she began a professional career as a gospel singer.
Mahalia was raised in a deeply religious and pious Christian home, but she was also quite different from her parents in that she loved many of the songs by well-known blues performers like Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey. Mahalia has a distinctive singing style with lots of unrestricted motions and rhythms.
The career of Mahalia Jackson
After deciding to go to Chicago to pursue her nursing studies, Mahalia became a member of the Greater Salem Baptist Church. She rose to prominence as one of the Johnson Gospel Singers’ most notable members in a relatively short period. She spent several years as a regular performer at the chapel.
Mahalia quickly began collaborating with Thomas A. Dorsey, a well-known gospel vocalist and composer. The pair gained a devoted fan base while touring the US.
Mahalia earned a living during this period by working as a beautician, laundress, and florist, among other occupations.
Even though she began recording albums in her early 30s, she didn’t achieve significant success until 1947, when her album “Move on Up a Little Higher” was released. The CD sold millions of copies, making it the best-selling gospel tune in music history.
When Mahalia debuted in 1958, she performed alongside Duke Ellington at the Newport Jazz Festival, which took place in Rhode Island. Black, Brown, and Beige is the title of an album that Ellington and Mahalia jointly released.
Mahalia backed and actively took part in the Civil Rights Movement as well. In 1963, she even performed a song at her close friend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s request.
Honors and Accomplishments of Mahalia Jackson
A biographical movie based on Mahalia’s life and events will star the well-known singer Fantasia Barrino, who won both an R&B Grammy Award and the American Idol title. The novel “Got to Tell It: Mahalia Jackson, Queen of Gospel” will serve as the inspiration for the movie’s plot.
In honor of Mahalia, the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences established the “Gospel Music or Other Religious Recording” category. She therefore became the first performer of gospel music to take home the prized Grammy Award.
In December 2008, Mahalia received her induction into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
Following renovations, the Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts reopened on January 17, 2009, with a lavish ceremony that included performances by Patricia Clarkson, Plácido Domingo, and Robert Lyall.
Individual Life and Legacy of Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia married in 1936, but the couple divorced after a few years due to her husband’s gambling addiction and his insistence on having her perform a variety of secular musical pieces.
On January 27, 1972, Mahalia passed away in Chicago following an active life. The Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, Illinois, is where she passed away from a variety of issues related to diabetes and heart failure.
Following her passing, tributes were given to her by residents of New Orleans and Chicago. A crowd of almost fifty thousand people attended her mahogany and glass-topped casket as a sign of respect. People flocked to the Arie Crown Theater the following day for her funeral service, offering their last respects to the queen of gospel.
Net worth of Mahalia Jackson
The estimated net worth of Mahalia Jackson is about $1 million.