Historic Plaque Now Marks Philadelphia Home Of Seminal Gospel-Rock Singer
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A gospel music legend was honored today with a plaque marking the North Philadelphia home where she spent the last 16 years of her life.
The thousands of fans who followed Sister Rosetta Tharpe in her heyday in the '50s would not have believed she would die in obscurity, buried without even a headstone in 1973.
Hear Sister Rosetta Tharpe's music on Youtube
A group of admirers have been working over the last decade to revive her reputation and recordings, and she is now getting recognition, long overdue, as one of the first gospel artists to cross over into rock and roll.
"People like Elvis Presley and Little Richard, these people took their style from her," notes dancer LaDeva Davis.
Davis led the group of fans unveiling the plaque outside Tharpe's last home, at 1102 Master Street. Today's ceremonies also included Rev. Joe Williams, who sang with Tharpe at her last concert:
"And no one else has ever played the way she played, you know. She died with the secret of how she tuned the guitar to get that sound. Thanks a lot, Rosetta."
Reported by Pat Loeb, KYW Newsradio 1060
