Odetta

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Arts & Culture

Odetta

American folk singer

Also known as: Odetta Holmes

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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Odetta

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Category: Arts & Culture

Née:: Odetta Holmes

Born:: December 31, 1930, Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.

Died:: December 2, 2008, New York, New York (aged 77)

Awards And Honors:: National Medal of Arts (1999)

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Odetta (born December 31, 1930, Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.—died December 2, 2008, New York, New York) American folk singer who was noted especially for her versions of spirituals and who became for many the voice of the civil rights movement of the early 1960s. After her father’s death in 1937, Odetta moved with her mother to Los Angeles. She began classical voice training at age 13, and she earned a degree in classical music from Los Angeles City College. Though she had heard the music of the Deep South as a child, it was not until 1950, on a trip to ...(100 of 334 words)

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