- Born
- 26 April 1886Columbus, Georgia, USA
- Died
- 22 December 1939Columbus, Georgia, USA · aged 53
Ma Rainey
The “Mother of the Blues” sang about loving women and wearing a collar and tie – in 1928.
Gertrude Pridgett grew up in Georgia and began performing in tent shows as a teenager. In 1904 she married the singer William “Pa” Rainey and became “Ma” Rainey. Together they toured the South with minstrel and vaudeville troupes, and she was one of the first professional entertainers to sing the blues.
From 1923 she recorded more than 100 songs for Paramount Records, among them “See See Rider” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”. Her deep, powerful voice and her glittering stage costumes made her a star. She encouraged the young Bessie Smith, and was known as the “Mother of the Blues”.
Rainey made no secret of her desire for women. In “Prove It on Me Blues” (1928) she sang about going out with women and wearing a collar and tie, and the advertisement for the record showed her in a man’s suit, flirting with women. In 1925 she was reportedly arrested in Chicago at a party with several women.
In the 1930s she retired to her hometown of Columbus, where she ran two theatres. She died there in 1939, aged 53. The film “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (2020), with Viola Davis, brought her back into the spotlight.