Photo: Lee Paxton / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Odetta is the kind of figure I think gets undersold in casual music history, even though her fingerprints are everywhere. Being called the Voice of the Civil Rights Movement isn't hyperbole; her command of folk, blues, spirituals and that guitar gave protest a spine you could feel. What moves me is that she treated American roots music as living testimony rather than nostalgia, and you can hear her echo in everyone who picked up an acoustic guitar after her. The National Medal of Arts and the Living Legend honor feel almost like footnotes to the influence itself. To me, she's foundational, not merely historical.
Overview
Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known mononymously as Odetta, was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement", her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Odetta
- Name (Japanese)
- オデッタ
- Reading
- おでった
- Born
- December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Capricorn / Horse
- Origin
- Birmingham, Alabama, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- singer / actor / guitarist / television actor / songwriter
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Belmont High School
- University
- Los Angeles City College
Awards & achievements
- National Medal of Arts
- War Resisters League Peace Award
- Library of Congress Living Legend
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
- Official sitehttp://www.odettamusic.com/
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AA%E3%83%87%E3%83%83%E3%82%BF
Singer — see all → · Actor — 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 items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.