Memphis Minnie
1897–1973
Memphis Minnie was born Lizzie Douglas in 1897. Her singing, songwriting, and skilled guitar playing made her a popular blues artist in the 1930s and ’40s. Her popularity was an achievement because the field was dominated by male guitarists and pianists. According to the National Park Service, Memphis Minnie was the greatest female country blues singer and one of the blues most influential artists. She began playing in the Memphis blues style which evolved from field work songs starting in the 1910s.
By the 1950s, Minnie helped form the roots of electric Chicago blues, popular in that decade, and was inducted into the Blues Foundation’s Hall of Fame in 1980.