Wanda Jackson
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Year:
2009
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Inducted by:
Roseanne Cash
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Category:
Early Influences
Hall of Fame Essay
2009
In 1958, when a gutsy, guitar-playing gal from Oklahoma belted out this mandate for new music, she was the rare woman among the rockabilly cats mixing up rhythm & blues and country & western, creating primal rock roll in the process.
Wanda Jackson wasn’t afraid to step outside the prim confines of a woman’s place in pop - sonically, lyrically, and aesthetically. She snarled, using a “nasty” voice to sing sassy lyrics, when “girl singers” were supposed to sound pretty and look pretty.
Instead of going the cowgirl, country lass, or prom queen route, the gorgeous brunette dressed in befringed cocktail dresses that shimmied and shook as she cut the rug onstage.
has rhythm and joy in equal parts to the depth of her soul
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Photography: Janet Macoska
