Mahalia

In her biography of Mahalia Jackson, Roxane Orgill explains what she describes as “making the connection” with Mahalia: “During her early days in Chicago, Mahalia sang from a little brown Baptist hymnal called ‘Gospel Pearls’. In the New York Public Library, I found a worn copy – not her copy, but I felt a connection to Mahalia as I turned the brittle pages. I felt the connection too when I went to my church, and sang in the choir and when I visited New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, which has a strong gospel choir, and Pilgrim Baptist in Chicago where Mahalia sang. Faith was the essence of Mahalia’s being. Praying, singing and going to church were the most important things in her life, the trinity of her existence. I couldn’t have understood that if I hadn’t gone to church” (Orgill, p. x).Mahalia Jackson was one of the most influential singers of the 20th century, selling 22 million records and achieving superstar status. Mahalia presided over the birth of Gospel music, and is universally acknowledged as the ‘queen of gospel’ music. She travelled far and wide, to spread the gospel in song.