Profile: Wanda Jackson

Posted by brandy

on January 15, 2009M at 11:41 am

Wanda Jackson is considered the first female rock ‘n’ roll singer.

A version of this story ran in Thursday’s The Oklahoman.

Getting to know Wanda Jackson

Oklahoma City singer Wanda Jackson, whose nicknames include the Queen of Rockabilly and First Lady of Rock ‘n’ Roll, first recorded as a country artist in 1954. She started singing rock ‘n’ roll in 1956. She tried the new style at the urging of up-and-coming singer Elvis Presley, with whom she toured and dated.

The Maud native later returned to recording country music and also performed as a gospel artist. A perennial rock star in Europe and Japan, her rock career revived in the U.S. in the 1990s with the resurgence of rockabilly.

She has been nominated for two Grammy Awards as the best performing female singer. She has been inducted into the Oklahoma Country Music Hall of Fame, Rockabilly Hall of Fame, International Gospel Music Hall of Fame, Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame and German Country Music Hall of Fame. She also has been awarded the Oklahoma Native Daughter Award.

In 2005, she received the National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage Fellowship Award. A documentary about her, “Wanda Jackson: The Sweet Lady With the Nasty Voice,” featuring Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello and Lemmy Kilmister, was released in 2007.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced Wednesday that she would be inducted April 4 in its early influence category.

Now 71, Jackson continues to perform worldwide.

Other inductees

The other 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees are heavy metal band Metallica, rap pioneers Run-DMC, guitarist Jeff Beck, soul singer Bobby Womack and doo-wop group Little Anthony and the Imperials. The inductees in the sidemen category are session musician Spooner Oldham and two of Elvis Presley’s musicians, drummer D.J. Fontana and bassist Bill Black.

Still a pioneer

Jackson is apparently the first woman with Oklahoma ties to be inducted into the rock hall. Previous inductees with Oklahoma connections include Woody Guthrie, Charlie Christian, Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys and The Ventures.

-BAM

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