Fourty FOUR Visual

Do you know Prince Rogers wrote his first song, “Funk Machine”, on his father’s piano when he was seven years old. Prince played football, basketball, and baseball and even became classical trained in ballet at the Minnesota Dance Theatre. He later become an advocate for dancers, and helped to save the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago during the 1990s.

In 1973, Prince met songwriter and producer Jimmy Jam and Pepe Willie. Pepe eventually formed the band 94 East, and hired André Cymone and Prince to record tracks in 1975. Willie wrote the songs, Prince contributed guitar tracks, and they both co-wrote the 94 East song, “Just Another Sucker”. The band recorded tracks which later became the album, Minneapolis Genius – The Historic 1977 Recordings.

Prince graduated in 1976. Shortly after graduation, Prince created a demo tape which was used to help him get a management contract. They create a new demo and then secured a recording contract with Warner Bros. Prince recorded, mixed and released his first album, For You, on April 7, 1978. He is credited with writing, producing, arranging, composing, and playing all 27 instruments on the recording. All except for “Soft and Wet“, which was co-written with producer Chris Moon. That song reached No. 12 on the Hot Soul Singles chart and No. 92 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The following year Prince formed his own band and they recorded and released the album, Prince. It was a hit reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Top R&B/Black Albums charts and was certified platinum. That album contained two R&B smash hits: “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?” and “I Wanna Be Your Lover”. Both sold over a million copies. Prince was a prolific musician who released 39 albums during his life, with a vast array of unreleased material. Prince is a true music legends and we celebrate him this black history month.

I created a coloring book spotlighting our musical legends from the late 1800s to now. Take the journey with us as we go through decades of music and musicians from Ragtime to Rap by purchasing a copy at EstellesBooks.com.

Do you know BlueBelles? They were an American girl band that was formed after the disbanding of two rival girl groups, Ordettes and the Del-Capris, They formed a new version of the former groups, and then changing their name to the Bluebelles. The founding members were Patti LaBelle (formerly Patricia Holte), Cindy Birdsong, Nona Hendryx, and Sarah Dash.

As the Bluebelles, and later Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, they found success with ballads in the doo-wop genre: "Down the Aisle (The Wedding Song)", "You'll Never Walk Alone", and "Over the Rainbow". Birdsong later departed to join The Supremes in 1967. The band then changed its look, musical direction, and style to re-form as Labelle in 1971. Their funk rock recordings of that period became cult favorites for their brash interpretation of rock and roll and for singing lyrical topics not typically addressed by female black groups.

They adapted a glam rock look and wearing outlandish space-age and glam costumes, the band found success with the proto-disco smash hit "Lady Marmalade" in 1974, leading to the album Nightbirds achieving gold success. They were the first contemporary pop group/band to perform at the Metropolitan Opera House. They were also the first black vocal group to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone.

Each of the band members later went on their own after the end of a tour in 1976, going on to have significant solo successes. Nona Hendryx went into her own solo career; Sarah Dash became a celebrated session singer; and Patti LaBelle enjoyed a very successful Grammy-winning career, with several top-20 R&B hits between 1982 and 1997, a number-one pop hit with "On My Own", and lifetime-achievement awards from the Apollo Theatre, World Music Awards, and BET Awards.

The group reunited for their first new album in 32 years, Back to Now in 2008. They performed together regularly until the death of Dash on September 20, 2021, at the age of 76. They are true music legends and we celebrate them this black history month.

I created a coloring book spotlighting our musical legends from the late 1800s to now. Take the journey with us as we go through decades of music and musicians from Ragtime to Rap by purchasing a copy at EstellesBooks.com.

Do you know Sis Rosetta Tharpe? She’s famous for her guitar playing blended with melody-driven urban blues, traditional folk arrangements and incorporated a pulsating swing that was a precursor of rock and roll. Her influenced Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Little Richard, Aretha Franklin, Jerry Lee Lewis, Isaac Hayes, and many artists to come. She also inducted into the Blue and Rock n Roll Hall of Fames.

She began singing and playing the guitar at the age of six and was considered as a musical prodigy and started performing as Little Rosetta Nubin. 1921, a six year old, Rosetta, joined her mother as a regular performer in a traveling evangelical troupe. She was billed as a "singing and guitar playing miracle," she accompanied her mother in performances that were part sermon and part gospel concert for audiences across the American South.

In the mid-1920s, Tharpe and her mother settled in Chicago, IL. They performed religious concerts at the Roberts Temple, COGIC. They occasionally traveled to perform at church conventions throughout the country. Tharpe developed considerable fame as a musical prodigy, standing out in an era when prominent black female guitarists were rare. In 1934, at age 19, she married Thomas Thorpe, a COGIC preacher, who accompanied her and her mother on many of their tours. The marriage lasted only a few years, but she decided to adopt a version of her husband's surname as her stage name, Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Around this time she had developed her guitar style and blended it with melody-driven urban blues, traditional folk arrangements and a pulsating swing that was a precursor of rock and roll. She is truly a music legend and we celebrate her this black history month.

I created a coloring book spotlighting our musical legends from the late 1800s to now. Take the journey with us as we go through decades of music and musicians from Ragtime to Rap by purchasing a copy at EstellesBooks.com.

Did you know about Lil & Louis Armstrong? They met in King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band. At the time Lillian was a pianist in the band and the bandleader requested that Louis moved from New Orleans to Chicago to be second cornet next to him. Louis was the new kid in town and Lil was the established player on the Chicago jazz scene. She wasn’t impressed with Louis at first, stated that “Louis was too fat and had a funny hairdo.” But Louis's charm and talent peaked her interest and she eventually fell for him. They were married within a year.

She saw him as a star with his name in lights and he just thought she was "crazy." But she was able convince him that she was right. After that they both changed the face of jazz. Who knows if Louis Armstrong’s genius would have touched the world as it did without the tireless effort and steadfast vision of Lil Hardin Armstrong. They went on to make great strides for the Jazz music genre. They both are truly music legends and we celebrate them this black history month.

I created a coloring book spotlighting our musical legends from the late 1800s to now. Take the journey with us as we go through decades of music and musicians from Ragtime to Rap by purchasing a copy at www.EstellesBooks.com.