Mahalia: A Life in Gospel Music

Mahalia Jackson’s rise from a young choir soloist in New Orleans to America’s most famous gospel singer is a stirring story of social and musical history.

Born poor in New Orleans in 1911, young Mahalia Jackson was told to
"let it out" when she sang the gospel at church each Sunday. Swaying and clapping her hands, she astonished everyone who heard her powerful voice. As her fame grew, her soulful voice helped introduce gospel music to the world and brought hope to thousands of civil rights workers who marched for equality in the 1960s. Through it all, Mahalia’s faith in God never wavered and her talent remained a shining light. Roxane Orgill’s compelling narrative, accompanied by more than fifty photographs, brings drama, depth, and immediacy to the life of the world’s most famous gospel singer.

Roxane Orgill is an award-winning writer on music whose reviews and feature articles have appeared in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, the NEW YORK TIMES, and BILLBOARD. She is also the author of SHOUT, SISTER, SHOUT! TEN GIRL SINGERS WHO SHAPED A CENTURY, and IF I ONLY HAD A HORN: YOUNG LOUIS ARMSTRONG, illustrated by Leonard Jenkins. MAHALIA is her first book with Candlewick Press.