Zella Jackson Price

Zella Jackson Price (born c. 1940) is an American gospel singer whose career has spanned 50 years. She performed with many St. Louis-based entertainers and earned national recognition, performing in her own show at Carnegie Hall in 1985. She was one of the pioneer black announcers on St. Louis radio and was the feature of a documentary about her life created by Chicago TV channel 28. She sang in several movies, including Say Amen, Somebody (1982), a documentary about Ethel Waters' life, and the HBO mini-series Angels in America.

In 2015, Price made headlines when a daughter she had given birth to in 1965 and was told had died made contact with the family through social media. DNA evidence confirmed the relationship and an investigation into how the separation occurred is on-going.

Career

Price's music career began at the age of six,[1] singing gospel music and playing piano accompaniment for her mother,[2] Alberta (née Waterford)[1] Cooper, who sang with the Waterford Sisters and Willie Mae Ford Smith. Price graduated from Sumner High School of St. Louis in 1957 and began her own career.[2] By 1967, she had already made recordings and was touring Missouri singing gospel songs,[3] having recorded with artists such as Oliver Sain[4] Skeet Rogers, Denise Thimes and other artists.[5]

Price was a pioneer of gospel radio, hosting a show on KIRL,[2] and along with other black announcers including Columbus Gregory, Wynetta Lindsey, Steve Love, Leonard Morris, Dean Strong and Ruby Summerville-Dickson "played a significant role in the development of St. Louis black radio."[6] She later starred in a television special on Chicago's TV channel 28, which documented her life and work.[1]

Price was a featured singer in the music documentary Say Amen, Somebody. The 1982 documentary also features The Barrett Sisters, Thomas A. Dorsey, Willie Mae Ford Smith, Sallie Martin and The O'Neal Twins.[7] Price sang an emotional rendition of her song "I'm His Child" in the film, which later appeared on the 1990 soundtrack album for Glee.[8] Her performance was praised by Chicago Sun-Times, Cosmopolitan Magazine and Rolling Stone.[1] She was selected to play Ethel Waters in a film of Waters' life, and she sang "Happy I'm His Child", written by Malcolm Speed in the Academy Award-nominated HBO mini-series Angels in America, which starred Al Pacino and Meryl Streep.[1]

One of the crowning moments of Price's life was when she performed in 1985 at Carnegie Hall in New York City, with her long-time accompanist Michael Johnson.[2] Another, was a 2009 performance for Black History Month at Powell Hall with the Saint Louis Symphony to honor blues legend Mae Wheeler.[5]

Personal life

In April 2015, Price met her daughter, Melanie Diane Gilmore, for the first time, in the presence of mainstream news broadcasters.[9] In 1965, Price was told her daughter had died within three hours of birth.[10] Her version of "I'm His Child" in 1982 takes on a deeper meaning in the context of the death of her newborn baby.[11]

Gilmore made contact with Price after searching for her biological grandparents online.[12] DNA results have confirmed the relationship between Price and her daughter.[13]

Discography

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 NAACP (June 12, 2009). "100 Most Inspiring St. Louisans". St. Louis Today. St. Louis, Missouri. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 King, Chris (December 24, 2008). "Celebration for Zella Jackson Price Sunday at Mt. Zion". St. Louis American. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Zella Jackson". Mexico Ledger. Mexico, Missouri. April 6, 1967. p. 3. Retrieved August 4, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Oliver Sain". St. Louis, Missouri: STL Blues Net. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  5. 1 2 King, Chris (February 20, 2009). "Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra: Lady Gets Her Dues". Playbill. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  6. ↑ Hayes, Bernie. "Early Voices and Faces of Local Black Radio". STL Media History. St. Louis, Missouri: St. Louis Media History Foundation. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  7. ↑ Ebert, Roger (2012). 33 Movies to Restore Your Faith in Humanity: Ebert's Essentials. Andrews McMeel Publishing. pp. 91–2. ISBN 978-1-449-42225-7.
  8. ↑ "I'm His Child – Zella Jackson Price". AllMusic. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  9. ↑ Silverstein, Jason (11 April 2015). "Family united for first time after hospital mishap kept mother and daughter apart for decades". New York Daily News. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Mom meets daughter she thought died – 49 years later". USA Today. April 11, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Missouri mother, 76, meets daughter she thought had died in childbirth". Mass Live. April 14, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Missouri Mom, 76, Meets 49-Year-Old Daughter for First Time". NBC News. April 13, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  13. ↑ Cambria, Nancy (May 27, 2015). "Adoption records blocked for now as family seeks answers to Homer G. Phillips mystery". St. Louis Post Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
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