Mahalia Jackson

The Queen of Gospel(no quotations), an Aielle Ache favorite was born Mahala(later adding the "i") in New Orleans, Louisiana on October 26, 1911. Her mother died when she was young and she was raised by her aunt with the same name in which everyone called "Duke". School was hardly an option because of the strenuous work that continuously had to be done around the house. So Halie as she was called, loved to sing and church is where she loved to sing the most. She started out in one of the first professional gospel groups "The Johnson Gospel Singers" not even eighteen yet. After that her success just continued to grow because of word spreading of this amazing voice. Her firts success in recording was the ever so popular "Move on Up a Little Higher", which eventually sold an unthinkable 8 million copies. In 1950she became the first gospel singer to perform at New York's Carnegie Hall. She started touring Europe in 1952 and was hailed by critics as the "world's greatest gospel singer". Being a major success in Europe, Mahalia continued to tour there in Europe in 1961 (Recorded Live in Europe 1961), 1963-1964, 1967, 1968 and 1969. Her last album was What The World Needs Now in 1969 and ended her career in 1971 with a concert in Germany. The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences created the Gospel Music or Other Religious Recording category for Jackson making her the first Gospel Music Artist to win the prestigious Grammy Award. Being honored with numerous awards including Grammy, Rock & Roll, Gospel Music and Hollywood Walk an Halls of Fame, Mahalia Jackson will forever be remembered as the first Gospel Superstar.

Mahalia Jackson, pioneer of gospel music and African American philanthropy.



">