Sister Rosetta Tharpe Home Historical Marker

Dedicated in 2011, this historical marker honors singer-songwriter Sister Rosetta Tharpe, known by many as the "Godmother of Rock and Roll" for her influence in shaping the trajectory of the genre from its roots in rhythm-and-blues versions of spirituals. Tharpe's unique contribution was pairing those spirituals with her electric guitar, and she was credited as a pivotal influence by musicians ranging from Elvis Presley and Little Richard to Johnny Cash. Born on a cotton plantation in 1915, Tharpe traveled with her mother, Katie Bell Nubin, a traveling Holiness Church evangelist. From a young age, Tharpe played guitar and sang spirituals with such authenticity that she won over audiences who had previously been suspicious of electric guitars. Tharpe started recording music in the late 1930s. In the three decades that followed, Tharpe performed at small venues in the South to Madison Square Garden and Griffith Stadium. Forgotten by many until recent years, Tharpe influenced nearly all of the mid-20th century's most iconic musicians and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018. This marker is at the site of her home from 1957 until her death in 1973. On October 24, 2011, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission dedicated this marker. According to biographer Gayle Wald, Tharpe responded to claims about the "new" style of rock and roll with the following remark: "Oh, these kids and rock and roll," Tharpe exclaimed, according to the author's accounts, "this is just sped up rhythm and blues."

Born Rosetta Nubin in the small town of Cotton Plant, Arkansas, on March 20, 1915, Sister Rosetta Tharpe shaped the rock and roll genre. By the time she was six, young Rosetta was performing for an audience at the Church of God in Christ at the encouragement of her spiritual mother, who was a member of the congregation. Tharpe and her mother moved to Chicago in 1921, and young Rosetta performed for diverse audiences as part of a mother-daughter duo that toured the South. At the age of 19 in 1934, Rosetta Nubin married Thomas Thorpe, a preacher whose radio programs included Rosetta's music. After four years, Rosetta obtained a divorce and moved to New York City, where she adopted her former husband's surname to "Tharpe" to create what would become her stage name, Sister Rosetta Tharpe. The musician would use this as her public name for the rest of her life. In 1938, she joined New York's Cotton Club Revue and later produced her first single, "Rock Me," which blended gospel and the new genre of sped rhythm and blues with occasional distorted notes from her electric guitar. Tharpe and other musicians were shaping that new genre, known today as rock and roll."

Although she was only 23 when she began recording music with Decca Records in 1938, she boldly challenged convention in music and life. Her records mixed secular musical styles with gospel, making her performances controversial to some church members in an era when popular music was viewed with suspicion among many church-goers. Tharpe traveled widely and collaborated with some of the best-known musicians of the era, including Duke Ellington. She even recorded music with white bands like the Jordanaires while traveling and performing with gospel singers and swing bands like the Dixie Hmmingbirds. The exposure led to a growing audience who appreciated the new style, and her music soon became popular with the young and general public. While not a household name like some early rock and roll musicians, she was well-known and influential on many of the mid-20th century's most famous artists. Because of segregation, Tharpe sometimes slept in the bus of her tour group or in private homes and small hotels in cities with a larger Black population.

Audiences were frequently taken aback by Tharpe’s virtuosic skill with the electric guitar as well as her distinctive distorted style of playing, which would heavily affect the rock and roll genre in the years to come. Her marriage to her second husband, music promoter Foch Allen, was also brief. Her 1944 hit record “Strange Things Happening Every Day” is widely regarded to be one of the first rock ‘n roll songs ever recorded and was later credited by Elvis Presley as a profound influence on his music. The song demonstrates Tharpe's unique blend of the secular and sacred, with the final verse relating a changing world to her Christian faith. In those years, her music was treasured by many Black musicians and could be heard in the camps of Black military units in Europe and Asia during the Second World War.

In 1947, while playing a show at the Macon City Auditorium, Sister Rosetta Tharpe heard a 15-year-old Richard Wayne Penniman sing before she came on stage. Impressed by his talent, she invited the teen to sing with her during the concert and even paid him for it afterward. It was Penniman’s first time performing for an audience outside of church. This experience inspired him to keep pursuing his passion for music. Penniman later became a world-renowned rock and roll musician performing as "Little Richard." In the 1950s, Tharpe recorded numerous songs with gospel choirs supporting her singing and guitar playing. Together with distorted notes from her electric guitars and the hard-driving notes of a sanctified piano, Tharpe's gospel music shaped early rock and roll.

Tharpe's 1951 marriage to her manager, Russell Morrison, occurred in a ceremony following a Washington Nationals Game at Griffith Stadium. Newspapers promoted the wedding more than the baseball game, and at least 20,000 stayed to witness the wedding, where Tharpe performed and entertained the guests from a stage in centerfield. By most accounts, the wedding was a promotional stunt even though it was legally recognized and lasted until Tharpe's death in 1973. In later years, Morrison and Rosetta's Christmas cards were signed "Mr. and Mrs Rosetta Tharpe," a tacit recognition of her fame and the nature of the relationship between performer and manager. For many, Tharpe's performance at her own wedding can be seen as the first stadium rock concert. According to biographer Gayle Wald and Tharpe's close friend, Marie Knight, the marriage was an arrangement that benefitted Russell Morton who lived off Tharpe's fame. Wald's book suggests a strong likelihood that Tharpe maintained intimate relationships with several women during her life, although close friends like Marie Knight, who traveled and performed with Tharpe, have suggested that this was not true.

While touring internationally in 1957, Tharpe's Richmond home and all of her belongings were seized on account of unpaid taxes and auctioned off by the city. After this incident, Tharpe moved with her husband to Philadelphia. When the city created the Yorktown Neighborhood in 1960, Sister Rosetta Tharpe became one of the first homeowners in the now-historic Black neighborhood. While living there, Tharpe joined Bright Hope Baptist Church, where she regularly sang for Sunday services. The 1960s saw Tharpe's career stagnate as younger audiences shifted toward emerging rock bands while more traditional religious performers became the standard for churchgoers. In response, Tharpe performed numerous concerts in Europe, including an iconic 1964 Blues and Gospel Caravan with Muddy Waters and numerous other performers. In the 1960s, Tharpe released five albums and received a Grammy nomination for her album Precious Memories in 1968. While she had been a superstar in the 1950s, Tharpe's fame declined and would be largely forgotten for the next few decades.

1968 was a difficult year for Tharpe. Her mother, who had been a significant influence on her life, died, and Tharpe was diagnosed with diabetes. She spent the next two years struggling with depression and then suffered a stroke in 1970 that resulted in the amputation of her leg. On October 9, 1973- right before a scheduled recording session- Tharpe had a second stroke. She was transported to Temple University Hospital, where she died at the age of 57. Her body was buried in an unmarked grave at Northwood Cemetery.

Thanks to music historians and the tributes of stars who credited Tharpe as an influence when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the early 2000s saw a resurgence of interest in her life and work. Thanks to the work of her lifelong friends and fans, in January of 2008, Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell declared January 11th "Sister Rosetta Tharpe Day" in Pennsylvania. That month, a benefit concert was also held to raise money for a headstone placed at Tharpe's gravesite later that year. On October 24, 2011, a Pennsylvania historical marker plaque was unveiled outside of Sister Rosetta Tharpe's former Philadelphia home at 1102 Master Street. Reverend Joe Williams, who sang with Tharpe at her last concert, performed at the ceremony. In 2018, Tharpe was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and her music was performed by Felicia Collins with Questlove from the Roots on guitar and Paul Sharrer on Piano.

Wald, Gayle. Shout, Sister, Shout!: The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Beacon Press, 2008.

Belcher, Craig. Her Gospel Truth, Richmond Magazine. April 9th 2018. Accessed December 3rd 2020. https://richmondmagazine.com/news/features/sister-rosetta-tharpe/.

City of Philadelphia. 1102 Master Street, City of Philadelphia Property. Accessed December 3rd 2020. https://property-beta.phila.gov/#/?address=1102%20MASTER%20ST.

Dawson, Shay. "Sister Rosetta Tharpe." National Women's History Museum. National Women's History Museum, 2024. accessed 11/15/2024  

John-Hall, Annette. Annette John-Hall: New marker in N. Phila. labels home of music pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Inquirer. October 25th 2011. Accessed December 3rd 2020. https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/local/20111025_Annette_John-Hall__New_marker_in_N__Phila__labels_home_of_music_pioneer_Sister_Rosetta_Tharpe.html.

Loeb, Pat. Historic Plaque Now Marks Philadelphia Home Of Seminal Gospel-Rock Singer, CBS Philly. October 24th 2011. Accessed December 3rd 2020. https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2011/10/24/historic-plaque-now-marks-philadelphia-home-of-seminal-gospel-rock-singer/.

Merz, Robert . Pennsylvania Governor Rendell Proclaims Sister Rosetta Tharpe Day on January 11, 2008 to Honor the Gospel Music Legend, Webwire. January 2nd 2008. Accessed December 6th 2020. https://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=56002.

The Friends of Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Sister Rosetta Tharpe to Be Honored with Historical Marker and Film Presentation in Philadelphia, PR Newswire. October 14th 2011. Accessed December 3rd 2020. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sister-rosetta-tharpe-to-be-honored-with-historical-marker-and-film-presentation-in-philadelphia-131850368.html.

THE GODMOTHER OF ROCK & ROLL: Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Csaky, Mick. United States. 2014.

Shapiro, Ari. 'The Most Elaborate Wedding Ever Staged': Rosetta Tharpe At Griffith Stadium, All Things Considered, NPR Music. November 25th, 2019. Accessed November 15th, 2024. https://www.npr.org/2019/09/25/763742547/the-most-elaborate-wedding-ever-staged-rosetta-tharpe-at-griffith-stadium.