African-American singer, songwriter, actress and human rights activist Odetta Holmes has died of heart disease at the age of 77.
In the 50’s, Odetta was part of the folk revival that went on to influence Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin. Dylan often states that the first thing that turned him on to folk was Odetta. Odetta was the first person Janis imitated.Joan Baez said, “Odetta was a goddess. Her passion moved me. I learned everything she sang."
Performances at the Newport Jazz Festival and then parts in ‘Cinerama Holiday’, ‘Sanctuary’ and ‘The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman’, made Odetta a household name in the USA.
In 1999, President Bill Clinton awarded her the National Medal of the Arts.
Although not well in recent months, Odetta wanted to sing at the inauguration of Barack Obama. It was a dream she was never going to get to fulfill.
Odetta was a keynote speaker for the Martin Luther King Jr commemoration in San Diego this year.
Her last US performance was at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park on October 4 when she performed at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. She also performed in Toronto on October 26.
Her health rapidly declined in early November. She was being treated at the Lenox Hospital in New York.
