Skip to content
Odetta

Profile via TMDB · Courtesy of TMDB

EntityQ237633· pop 35· linked from 500 articles

Also known as Odetta Holmes, Odetta Gordon

Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals.

Person · Open Library

Born
1930
Died
2008
Works
2

Top works

  • Blues everywhere I go
  • Christmas spirituals

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Acting · Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Known for

  • Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street — Self (archive footage)2021
  • Woody Guthrie All-Star Tribute Concert 1970 — Self2019
  • Greenwich Village: Music That Defined a Generation — Self (archive footage)2013
  • Blues Divas — Self2005
  • The Ballad of Ramblin' Jack — Self2000
  • Other Voices, Too: An Evening With Nanci Griffith — Self1999
  • Classic Albums — Self (archive footage)1997
  • Nanci Griffith: Other Voices, Other Rooms — Self1993
  • Turnabout: The Story of the Yale Puppeteers — Self1993
  • Phil Ochs Memorial Celebration — Self1977

via TMDB

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
214,980
Total plays
1,778,294

Tags

bluesfolkgospelfemale vocalistsamericana

Odetta (December 31, 1930 - December 2, 2008) was an African-American singer whose repertoire consists largely of American folk music, blues, and spirituals. She was born Odetta Holmes in Birmingham, Alabama, grew up in Los Angeles, California, and studied music at Los Angeles City College. Having operatic training from the age of 13, her first professional experience was in musical theater, with a touring company of the musical Finian's Rainbow in 1949. <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Odett

via Last.fm · Odetta

Key facts

Musical artist <! See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians >.name
Odetta
Musical artist <! See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians >.image
Odetta (1961).jpg
Musical artist <! See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians >.caption
Odetta in 1961
Musical artist <! See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians >.background
solo_singer
Musical artist <! See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians >.birth_name
Odetta Holmes
Musical artist <! See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians >.alias
Odetta Gordon, Odetta Felious
Musical artist <! See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians >.birth_place
Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Musical artist <! See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians >.death_place
New York City, U.S.
Musical artist <! See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians >.years_active
1944–2008
Musical artist <! See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians >.spouse
Don Gordon (m. 1959; div. 1959) Iverson Minter (m. 1977; div. 1983)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Official website
www.odettamusic.com
Image
Odetta.jpg
Show 5 more facts
Commons category
Odetta
date of death
2008-12-02
date of birth
1930-12-31
start of work period
1944-00-00
end of work period
2005-00-00
Sources (10)

via Wikidata · CC0

~16 min read

Article

11 sections
Contents
  • Biography
  • Early life and career
  • Later career
  • Final tour
  • Death
  • Legacy
  • Discography
  • Filmography
  • See also
  • References
  • External links

Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals.

An important figure in the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, she influenced many of the key figures of the folk-revival of that time, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Mavis Staples, and Janis Joplin. In 2011 Time magazine included her recording of "Take This Hammer" on its list of the 100 Greatest Popular Songs, stating that "Rosa Parks was her No. 1 fan, and Martin Luther King Jr. called her the queen of American folk music."

Gallery (8)

Connections

Categories