Gertrude Pridgett "Ma" Rainey

Gertrude Pridgett "Ma" Rainey

Gertrude Pridgett Rainey, better known as Ma Rainey (April 26, 1886 – December 22, 1939), was one of the earliest known professional blues singers and one of the first generation of such singers to record. She was billed as The Mother of the Blues. She did much to develop and popularize the form and was an important influence on younger blues women, such as Bessie Smith, and their careers.Born in Columbus, Georgia, she first appeared on stage in Columbus in "A Bunch of Blackberries" at the age of 14. She then joined a traveling vaudeville troupe and married fellow vaudeville singer William 'Pa' Rainey in 1904. They toured with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels as Rainey & Rainey, Assassinators of the Blues, singing a mix of blues and popular songs. In 1912, she took the young Bessie Smith into the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, trained her, and worked with her until Smith left in 1915. Also known, though less discussed, is that she was bisexual. Rainey never shied away from her feelings in her music. Rainey was outspoken on women's issues and a role model for future women entertainers who took control of their own careers. Ma Rainey was already a veteran performer with decades of touring with African-American shows in the U.S. Southern States when she made her first recordings in 1923. Rainey signed with Paramount Records and, between 1923 and 1928, she recorded 100 songs. Rainey was extremely popular among southern blacks in the 1920s. She retired in 1933 and died of a heart attack in 1939.