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MA RAINEY MOTHER OF THE BLUES

FULL NAME: Gertrude Malissa “Ma” Nix Pridgett Rainey

BORN: C. APRIL 26, 1886, COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, U.S.A.

DIED: DECEMBER 22, 1939, ROME, GEORGIA, U.S.A.

NATIONALITY: AMERICAN

MADAM GERTRUDE MA RAINEY

Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett began performing when she was around 13, first through her Baptist church and later on tour. In 1904, Gertrude married William Rainey, and the pair began touring as “Ma” and “Pa” Rainey soon after. By 1905, Ma had heard blues music and began to work it into her performance list. She quickly developed her own “raw” singing style, using her booming voice and unusual phrasing. She became the first popular entertainer to perform the blues on stage and came to be known as the “Mother of the Blues.”

FROM GERTRUDE TO MA

She would go on to perform live music for over 30 years, including during the blues heyday of the 1920s. Her stage presence was captivating. Ma became the first great female blues vocalist and brought blues to a wider audience. After the Raineys separated in 1916, Ma began touring with her own band, Madam Gertrude Ma Rainey and her Georgia Smart Sets.

“They don’t understand that’s [the blues is] life’s way of talking. You don’t sing to feel better. You sing ‘cause that’s a way of understanding life.”

MA RAINEY

A collection of her songs from 1924 to 1928, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” album remains a classic of the blues genre.

FABULOUS FIRSTS
	FIRST POPULAR ENTERTAINER TO PERFORM THE BLUES ON STAGE

BLUESY BUSINESSWOMAN

In 1923, Ma made her first record for Paramount Records. This was to be part of the first wave of blues records. (Mamie Smith was the first black woman to record an album, in 1920.) Ma’s songs dealt with love and work, and the everyday lives of Southern African-Americans. Ma worked with many famous musicians and singers of her day, including Louis Armstrong and Coleman Hawkins. Ma was known as a savvy businesswoman, and she also owned two entertainment venues: the Lyric Theater and the Airdome.

Not only was Ma Rainey important to the evolution of blues music, her work inspired a wide range of musicians, as well as poets and novelists, such as Langston Hughes, Sterling Brown, and Alice Walker. Ma has been inducted into both the Blues Foundation’s Hall of Fame (in 1983) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (in 1990) for her tremendous contributions to music of all genres.