Photo: Smerdis / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Elizabeth Cotten is one of those figures whose story is almost too good to be true. A self-taught, left-handed player turning a right-handed guitar upside down and inventing her own picking style from scratch is the sort of folk legend that makes me believe in raw, untutored genius. That she earned a Grammy in 1985, well into her nineties, and a posthumous Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2022 tells me her influence kept compounding long after most careers would have faded. I find her endlessly inspiring: proof that you don't need formal training to leave a permanent mark on American music.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Elizabeth Cotten
- Name (Japanese)
- エリザベス・コットン
- Reading
- えりざべす・こっとん
- Born
- January 5, 1893 – June 29, 1987
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Capricorn / Snake
- Origin
- Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
- Occupation
- singer / guitarist / folk musician / songwriter
2. Background
Awards & achievements
- 1985 Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording
- 2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Elizabeth Cotten born?
January 5, 1893 – June 29, 1987.
Where is Elizabeth Cotten from?
Elizabeth Cotten is from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States.
What does Elizabeth Cotten do?
Elizabeth Cotten works as singer, guitarist, folk musician, songwriter.
Singer — see all → · Guitarist — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.