Up Above My Head: A Tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe

She’s the mother of rock & roll. Everyone from Chuck Berry to Elvis to Jimi Hendrix copied her style. Her fame was international. Richmond, Virginia was her home. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was an icon. She lived in Richmond at the peak of her fame, and was a resident for nearly a decade. Now, we’re honoring her legacy in a new way!

Led by musicians and artists from across the Richmond area, a new celebration of Sister Rosetta Tharpe‘s history in Richmond is underway. Whether declaring a city holiday, developing historic markers, uplifting her name in road signs or scholarships, this is a movement to shine a brighter light on her legacy.

To begin, we’ll host a concert at the Hippodrome to celebrate her birthday: Up Above My Head: A Tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe. This will be a tribute show and a history lesson; a way to see your favorite Richmond musicians and a way to honor the legacy of the Black woman who paved the way for rock & roll. With help from our community, we not only can fund a spectacular event in her honor, but we can also begin the momentum to lift up Sister Rosetta Tharpe in a bigger way than the city has ever done before. An honor she so rightly deserves.

As part of the fundraising effort, we will be auctioning off an electric guitar featuring an original painting by Noah Scalin to honor Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

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