Known simply as "Odetta," she was considered by many to be the voice of the civil rights movement. A classically-trained vocalist who left audiences awestruck whenever she performed, folk-blues legend Odetta Holmes died on December 2, 2008 of heart disease at the age of 77.
She had been admitted to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City in mid-November for a check up and subsequently suffered from kidney failure. While going through daily dialysis treatment, Odetta prepared to perform at President Elect Obama's inauguration in January.
Odetta's Early Days
Born on December 31, 1930 in Birmingham, Alabama, Odetta subsequently moved to Los Angeles at age 6 with her family after her father's death. Trained as a classical vocalist, Odetta attended Los Angeles City College after high school, earning a degree in music.
Realizing that racism would restrict her opportunities as a singer, Odetta looked to expand her musical palette, landing a job with a theater company as a chorus member in a production of Finian's Rainbow. When the company performed in San Francisco, she received her first exposure to folk music, which would change her life.
Odetta, Folk Singer
Teaching herself a few chords on the guitar, Odetta began singing traditional folk, blues, and gospel songs for friends at parties. She would leave the theater company in 1950 to pursue folk music full-time, taking on a job at a club in San Francisco.
Odetta's popularity grew quickly, and she recorded her first album, The Tin Angel, in 1954. The album would prove to be a classic of the genre, catching the ears of such folk music icons as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Ramblin' Jack Elliott and directly influencing artists such as Harry Belafonte, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Bruce Springsteen.
Along with her stage work as an actress, Odetta became a well-known figure in early-1960s folk circles, and later became known as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement" for her strong stance on the issue. During the decade of the '60s, Odetta released 16 albums, and she continued to tour and record until her recent illness, performing some 60 shows over the past two years, performing from her wheelchair and singing for an impressive 90 minutes at a time.
Odetta's Career Honors
Odetta was presented the National Endowment for the Arts' Medal of the Arts from President Clinton in 1999, and in 2004 she was a Kennedy Center honoree. The Library of Congress honored Odetta in 2005 with its "Living Legend Award," and she also received several Grammy Award nominations through the years, most recently for her 2007 album Gonna Let It Shine.
The singer's dedication to African-American causes and her commitment to keeping traditional music alive has influenced and inspired several generations of folk and blues artists.
Odetta is survived by a daughter, Michelle Esrick of New York City, and a son, Boots Jaffre of Fort Collins, Colorado. Doug Yeager, Odetta's manager of 12 years, announced that a memorial service for the singer is scheduled for January 2009.
See also: Folk Guide Kim Ruehl's RIP Odetta 1930-2008
