Willie mae thornton biography
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She focused on singing the blues, which remained popular until the early 1970’s. Some of her most famous songs are listed below.
I Smell a Rat
Little Red Rooster
Laugh, Laugh, Laugh
My Heavy Load
You Did Me Wrong
Awards And Accomplishments
Big Mama Thornton was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1984.
She also began to put on weight (Although, in just months before her death she lost over 200 pounds). The song was later covered by Elvis Presley in 1956, making the song even more popular, even though Thornton did not gain much fame from it. In 2004, the nonprofit Will Mae Rock Camp for Girls was established in New York. She was nominated for the Blues Music Award six times but never won.
Alcoholism And Death
As an adult, Big Mama Thornton began to drink heavily.
Thornton's musical aspirations led her to leave home at 14 in 1941 and join the Georgia-based Hot Harlem Revue. Her religion greatly affected most aspects of her life, especially including some of her music.
Both of these things negatively impacted her health.
Big Mama Thornton
Willie Mae Thornton was born on December 11, 1926, in Ariton, Alabama, USA. She also had six siblings. The song was #1 on the Billboard R&B charts for seven weeks
Elvis Presley's rocking 1956 cover was even bigger, which concealed Thornton's chief claim to immortality, although Thornton's menacing growl was unique.
But, if you want to show the Hall Big Mama deserves to be alongside those she influenced and inspired, please consider signing this petition to add your voice to those calling for Big Mama’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
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Links and resources:
Alabama Heritage: Big Mama Thornton & Hound Dog
AllMusic: Leiber & Stoller Biography
Far Out Magazine: The mother of rock and roll: The extraordinary life of Big Mama Thornton
Far Out Magazine: Six definitive songs: The ultimate beginner’s guide to Big Mama Thornton
The Guardian: Why are women so marginalized by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?
Grunge: The truth about the original hound dog song
USAToday: Hallowed Sound - The roaring nights that shaped American music
Variety: Songwriter Mike Stoller on How He and Jerry Leiber Wrote Two Dozen Classics for Elvis — Before the Colonel Cut Them Off From the King
WBUR: 'Elvis' reminds viewers of Big Mama Thornton's blues hits, including the original 'Hound Dog'
Why Willie Mae Thornton Matters
Yale University Online Library: The Struggles and Triumphs of Bessie Jones, Big Mama Thornton, and Ethel Waters
Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton
December 11, 1926 - July 25, 1984
2020 Inductee
A native of Montgomery, Alabama, Willie Mae Thornton’s style was heavily influenced by the gospel music she listened to growing up.
Her father was a minister, and her mother sang in the church choir. When Thornton was a teenager, her mother died. Since Thornton’s father was a minister, the family went to church every day. She was the first to record the hit song "Hound Dog" in 1952. It managed to sell over 2 million copies despite the obstacles of receiving no airplay on White radio and only being available for purchase at Black record shops.
Elvis' "Hound Dog" enjoys crossover exposure denied to Big Mama
Three years later, Elvis Presley released his version of “Hound Dog.” It became an even bigger smash than Big Mama’s record, thanks partly to national radio play on both R&B and pop stations.
Willie Mae was well-schooled in gospel music tradition by her Baptist minister father and choir-singing mother. Big Mama showed them how to sing and command a stage with swagger, broke barriers, and set the template for boundary-pushing, gender-bending rockers who followed her— like Elvis Presley, Mick Jagger, Janis Joplin, Robert Plant, Freddie Mercury, and many others.
Big Mama Thornton paved the way for powerful Black female performers like Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Chaka Khan, Beyoncé, and others to unapologetically and confidently be their full, dynamic, Black-is-beautiful selves.
Access Denied
In 1984 the same year she passed away, Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame.
But her third Peacock date with Johnny Otis's band proved the winner. Released in 1953, it became a massive success on the R&B charts—remaining number one for several weeks!