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Mahalia Jackson ( October 26, 1911– January 27, 1972) was a United States gospel singer, widely regarded as one of the best in the history of the genre. She grew up in the "Black Pearl" section of the Carrollton neighborhood of uptown New Orleans, Louisiana and began singing in a Baptist church. She moved to Chicago in 1927 where she sang with The Johnson Brothers , one of the earliest professional gospel groups.

The Johnson Brothers broke up in the mid 1930s, and Jackson began her solo career, recording for Decca in 1937Events January January 1 Anastasio Somoza becomes President of Nicaragua January 11 The first issue of Look magazine goes on sale in the United States. January 19 Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 hours,. The result, God's Gonna Separate the Wheat from the Tares was only a moderate success, but Jackson became a popular concert draw. She experienced a recording hiatus until 1946Events January January 4 Theodore Schurch becomes the last person to be executed for offences committed under the Treachery Act of 1940 January 7 Allied recognize Austrian republic with 1937 borders the country is divided into four occupation zones Januar when she signed with Apollo RecordsRecord labels Apollo Records has been the name of at least three different record labels, all based in the United States of America. The earliest Apollo Records was a short lived subsidiary of Rialto Records in about 1921. The second Apollo Records was a, releasing several singles that are now highly regarded, though sales were sluggish at the time. Move on up a Little Higher ( 19481948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). Events January January 1 Nationalisation of UK railways to form British Railways. Arab militants lay siege to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. First day of the Ital) became a huge success however, and stores couldn't stock enough of it to meet demand. Jackson rocketed to fame in the US, and soon after in EuropeFor the band of the same name, see Europe (band . Europe is a continent forming the westermost part of the Eurasian supercontinent. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Se. I Can Put My Trust in Jesus ( 1952Summary of notable events in 1952 . Events January events January 8 West Germany has 8 million refugees inside its borders. January 24 Sudden heavy snowfall in Algeria. January 24 Vincent Massey sworn in as first Canada-born Governor-General of Canada.) won a prize from the French Academy, while Silent NightSilent Night is a popular Christmas carol. The original lyrics of the song Stille Nacht were written in German by Joseph Mohr and the melody was composed by the Austrian headmaster Franz X. It is believed that the carol has been translated into over 300 l was one of the best-selling singles in the history of NorwayThe Kingdom of Norway is a Nordic country west of Sweden on the Scandinavian Peninsula. It has a very elongated form and has an extensive coastline along the North Atlantic Ocean, where Norway's famous fjords are found. In addition to Sweden, it borders R. She began a radio series on CBS, and signed to Columbia Records in 1954. With her mainstream success came an inevitable backlash from gospel purists who felt she had watered down her sound for popular accessibility.

Jackson's career in the late 1950s and early 1960s continued to rise when she recorded with Percy Faith, and performed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival and the inauguration of John F. Kennedy. She also sang at the funeral of her friend, Martin Luther King, Jr. The late 1960s saw a downturn in her popular success. She ended her career with a concert in Germany in 1971; when she returned, she made one of her final television appearances on The Flip Wilson Show. Jackson died the following year.

She was posthumously inducted into the Gospel Music Association's Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1978.

Famous actress Della Reese began her show business career as a singer, alongside Jackson, in the 1940s.

Mahalia Jackson's name is used for half each of those belonging to two characters in Victory Gundam—Mahalia Merrill and Helen Jackson, two of the five (of the six) original members of the Shrike Team who were named in homage to famous 20th century female singers. ( Helen Merrill provided the other halves of their names.)