Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Rosetta Nubin, March 20, 1915 – October 9, 1973

Rock 'n' roll was born—at least in part—from gospel music, and it's hard to imagine that any one artist was more responsible for building a bridge between the two genres than Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

The first true gospel recording star, Tharpe rose to fame in the 1930s and '40s before pioneering the technique of heavy distortion on the electric guitar. Her music was the immediate predecessor to rock 'n' roll and served as an inspiration to every early rock star worth knowing, from Elvis Presley and Little Richard to Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis.