Gertrude Pridgett of Columbus, Georgia became Ma Rainey and her singing career began when, at age eighteen, she married showman William ‘Pa’ Rainey.
Ma Rainey, called the "Mother of the Blues," was as equally a part of Black History as she was of the history of jazz and the blues. Growing up in Columbus, Georgia, she heard folk music as well as that sung and played in church. Later she made records with such greats as Joe "King" Oliver and Louis Armstrong.
