A pioneering force hailed as the unsung hero of the genre, Linda Martell, was the first commercially successful Black female artist in country music. Martell had the highest peaking single on the Billboard Hot Country Singles (now Songs) chart at #22, “Color Him Father,” by a Black female country artist in the history of the genre in 1969, until Beyonce’s “Texas Hold ’Em” debuted at #1 on February 21st, 2024. Martell was notably the first Black woman to play the Grand Ole Opry stage.
From humble beginnings in her home state of South Carolina, Martell began performing with her family before being discovered as a solo act on Charleston Air Force Base. She moved to Nashville in 1969, and released her Top 25 charting debut single the same year which preceded her first and only album, Color Me Country. Color Me Country climbed to the Top 40 on the Billboard Top Country Album chart, featuring three charting singles and receiving praise from Billboard for its authenticity, “Linda impresses as a female Charley Pride. She has a terrific style and a true feeling for a country lyric.” The album earned her bookings on Hee Haw and package shows with Waylon Jennings and Hank Snow as well as the first of 12 total appearances on the Grand Ole Opry.
Though the album was deemed a success, Martell’s talent and tenacity still faced racism by audiences shouting racial slurs and hateful words at nearly every live show. It was a constant reminder that, as Rolling Stone recounts, “she was a black woman, singing in a genre dominated by white acts” and at that time in Nashville, much of the industry was run by corrupt white men. With her final single “Bad Case of the Blues” underperforming, she found herself shelved by her label and essentially blacklisted by “the town” resulting in her eventual, emotional and devastating, departure from country music and Nashville in 1974. Continue reading from Linda Martell Official
Everything to Know About Linda Martell (Elle)
7 Things to Know About Country Pioneer Linda Martell (Billboard)
On Linda Martell and Country Music (Library of Congress Blogs)
Beyoncé’s ‘The Linda Martell Show’ Interlude is Named for a Trailblazer You Need to Know (CNN)
Who is Linda Martell? (People)
Who is Linda Martell? (Harpers Bazaar)
Who is Linda Martell, the Black Country Musician Beyoncé Spotlights? (Washington Post)
Who is Linda Martell, and What's Her Involvement with Beyoncé's 'Cowboy Carter'? (Today)
