Wanda Jackson

Year:
2009
Inducted by:
Roseanne Cash
Category:
Early Influences

Introduction

One of the first women to break into rock and roll’s boys club.

Wanda Jackson is a rockabilly, rock and roll and country artist who sings with wild, reckless abandon. At Elvis Presley’s behest, she crossed over from country to rock, making such riotous hits as “Let’s Have a Party."

Rosanne Cash Inducts Wanda Jackson

Rosanne Cash Inducts Wanda Jackson at the 2009 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Rosanne Cash Inducts Wanda Jackson

00:06:46
Wanda Jackson Acceptance Speech

00:10:24
"Let's Have a Party"

00:02:34
"Jailhouse Rock"

00:03:14

Hall of Fame Essay

2009

Holly George-Warren

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.