Alberta Hunter
Alberta Hunter (April, 1 1895 – October 17, 1984) was born in Memphis, Tennessee and her mother was a servant at a whorehouse. She moved to Chicago when she was eleven to become a professional blues singer because her mother had remarried and Alberta was not happy with the family. She is most know for reviving her performing career when she was in her 80’s after working as a nurse for nearly 30 years.
She began her career in the 1910’s in the lowest dives and eventually worked her way to the top of the black entertainment establishments in Chicago. One of them was the Dreamland Ballroom where she performed for 5 years, eventually earning $35 dollars a week. In 1917 she made her first tour of Europe where she was treated like an artist, with respect. By the 1920’s her career was in full swing, performing in New York and London, recording and writing songs with Perry Bradford, Black Swan, Paramount, Gennett, OKeh, Victor and Colombia Records, among others.
By the 1940’s Alberta was doing U.S.O. tours to Europe during WWII, and Korea in the 50’s. She left the music business when her mother became sick. Alberta faked her age and high school diploma to become a nurse, the career she remained in for almost 30 years. When the hospital made her retire at 80 she began to sing professionally again in New York at the The Cookery in Greenwich Village, as well as writing and recording. She had a number of television and film appearances, performed at the White House, and wrote music for films, as well as performing in Europe and South America. Alberta even had a documentary film made of her life and a documentary musical stage show. She continued to perform until just before her death and is buried in the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York and was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2011.
Listen to: Fine and Mellow
A. B.
The Blues Project 