Rosetta Tharpe was a trailblazing Black musician who discovered fame early on as a gospel artist earlier than shifting to rock and roll and galvanizing a number of future legends. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor has been tapped to pen a script for a biopic about Sister Rosetta Tharpe, with legendary rocker Mick Jagger serving as a producer.
Deadline reviews that the Sister Rosetta Tharpe biopic was set in movement after Stay Nation Productions reached out to Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor to piece collectively the script. Together with Jagger’s Jagged Movies, the movie can also be being produced by Tribeca Studios and Inaudible Productions.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe emerged on the music scene first on the earth of gospel, releasing her first recordings on the age of 23 in 1938. One of many singles, “Rock Me,” would grow to be a success and influenced the likes of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Little Richard, amongst others.
Tharpe would combine gospel lyrics with secular music, which angered some. She went on to carry out her mixture of gospel and rhythm and blues, all accented by her guitar taking part in. The picture of a Black girl singing gospel music inside secular institutions, alongside along with her chosen instrument, induced many to not help her musical endeavors regardless of her quietly influencing future musical superstars alongside the way in which.
In interviews, Thapre primarily framed rock and roll as rhythm and blues at a sooner tempo. Sister Rosetta Tharpe handed away in 1973, however was acknowledged by her friends as a pioneering voice for rock and roll.
Together with the biopic, there will probably be a documentary about Tharpe centering on her contributions to music and her lasting affect, most particularly on the earth of guitars. The movie may even pull from writer Gayle Wald’s Shout, Sister, Shout!: The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe biography.
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Photograph: Getty