Grammy-winning artist Lizzo will step into a transformative role portraying Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the revolutionary guitarist and vocalist whose pioneering fusion of spiritual music and electric guitar techniques helped establish the foundations of rock and roll. The upcoming biopic titled “Rosetta” represents a significant moment for music history recognition, bringing long-overdue attention to one of American music’s most influential yet historically underacknowledged figures.
Amazon MGM Studios has greenlit the project, which will examine a crucial period in Tharpe’s career characterized by musical innovation and personal challenges. The film promises to illuminate both Tharpe’s groundbreaking musical contributions and her complex personal life, including her historically obscured same-sex relationship, according to industry reports.
Production brings together accomplished team
The biopic will feature Lizzo not only as the lead performer but also in a production capacity. She joins a creative team that includes veteran actor and producer Forest Whitaker and producer Nina Yang Bongiovi of Significant Productions, whose previous collaborations include critically acclaimed films focusing on Black American experiences.
Kevin Beisler rounds out the production team, while screenwriters Natalie Chaidez and Kwynn Perry have been tasked with crafting the screenplay. This combination of established industry veterans and fresh creative voices suggests a thoughtful approach to Tharpe’s complex legacy.
The film will reportedly culminate with a recreation of what many music historians consider the first stadium concert, emphasizing Tharpe’s groundbreaking appeal and commercial success during an era when Black female performers faced significant barriers in the music industry.
Reclaiming the godmother of rock and roll
Sister Rosetta Tharpe emerged as a musical innovator in the 1930s and 1940s, developing a distinctive style that blended traditional gospel with blues arrangements and pioneering electric guitar techniques. Her performances frequently transgressed the conventional boundaries between sacred and secular music, creating a template that would later influence countless rock, soul, and R&B artists.
Despite her influence on music legends including Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and Chuck Berry, Tharpe’s contributions were systematically minimized in popular narratives about rock music’s origins. The genre she helped create was often reframed as primarily the innovation of white male performers who followed in her musical footsteps.
Recent years have seen increasing recognition of Tharpe’s fundamental role in American music history. In 2018, she was finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, decades after many of the male artists she influenced had received similar recognition. The 2022 film “Elvis” featured British-American singer Yola portraying Tharpe in a brief but significant acknowledgment of her influence on Presley’s musical development.
Lizzo brings musical authenticity to role
The selection of Lizzo for the lead role brings together two boundary-pushing artists separated by generations but connected through their willingness to challenge musical and social conventions. Like Tharpe, Lizzo has built a career that spans multiple musical traditions, incorporating elements of hip-hop, R&B, soul, and pop while maintaining a distinctive artistic voice.
Lizzo brings substantial musical credibility to the role, with her background as a classically trained flutist complementing her vocal and performance skills. This musical foundation may prove valuable in portraying Tharpe, whose virtuosic guitar playing and powerful vocal delivery were defining elements of her artistic identity.
Beyond musical parallels, both artists have navigated the complexities of fame while existing outside conventional industry expectations. Tharpe achieved remarkable success as a Black woman in the heavily segregated music industry of the mid-20th century, while Lizzo has similarly challenged contemporary industry norms around body image, race, and gender expression.
Film explores pivotal period in music history
According to initial reports, “Rosetta” will focus on a transformative period in Tharpe’s career when she was simultaneously pushing musical boundaries with her distinctive guitar sound while navigating complex personal circumstances, including a concealed relationship with another woman amid the strict social constraints of the era.
This narrative approach promises to contextualize Tharpe’s innovations within the broader cultural and social landscape of mid-century America. By examining both her artistic achievements and personal challenges, the film has the potential to present a nuanced portrait of an artist whose complexity has often been flattened in historical accounts.
The decision to culminate the story with Tharpe’s legendary stadium concert highlights her commercial appeal and popular impact during her prime. This sequence will likely serve as both a celebration of her artistic triumph and a poignant reminder of how substantially her contributions were later minimized in popular music history.
Addressing historical erasure in rock history
“Rosetta” arrives at a moment of increasing critical reexamination of rock music’s origins and the systematic erasure of Black artists from its historical narrative. Despite the genre’s undeniable roots in Black musical traditions including blues, gospel, and rhythm and blues, the popular understanding of rock history has often centered white male performers while marginalizing the Black innovators who created the foundational sounds and performance styles.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe stands as perhaps the most glaring example of this historical erasure. Despite her pioneering electric guitar techniques, cross-genre innovations, and documented influence on numerous rock legends, mainstream histories of the genre frequently failed to acknowledge her centrality to rock’s development.
The biopic represents an opportunity to correct this historical oversight by presenting Tharpe’s story to contemporary audiences who may be unfamiliar with her crucial role in shaping modern popular music. By highlighting both her musical brilliance and the social barriers she overcame, the film has the potential to contribute to a more inclusive and accurate understanding of American musical history.
Representation extends beyond music history
The significance of this project extends beyond music history, touching on broader questions of representation in both the entertainment industry and historical narratives. The pairing of Lizzo, an artist who has consistently advocated for greater inclusivity in entertainment, with the story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe creates a powerful opportunity to address multiple dimensions of representation.
As a plus-size Black woman in contemporary entertainment, Lizzo has frequently discussed the importance of diverse body representation in media. Her casting in a leading biographical role carries significance in an industry that has historically limited opportunities for performers with similar body types, particularly in protagonist roles.
Similarly, the exploration of Tharpe’s same-sex relationship promises to highlight aspects of LGBTQ history that have often been obscured or deliberately hidden in historical accounts. This element of the narrative has the potential to contribute to a more complete understanding of queer history in American culture, particularly within religious and musical communities.
Building on renewed interest in music biopics
“Rosetta” joins a recent wave of music biopics that have found both critical acclaim and commercial success. Films like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Rocket Man,” and “Elvis” have demonstrated substantial audience interest in the stories behind beloved musical figures, while the success of “Straight Outta Compton” specifically highlighted the appeal of films focused on Black musical innovators.
However, “Rosetta” differs from many recent music biopics by focusing on an artist whose cultural impact significantly exceeds her name recognition among general audiences. Rather than capitalizing on existing popular familiarity, the film has the opportunity to introduce Tharpe’s remarkable story to viewers who may be encountering her for the first time.
This educational dimension adds particular significance to the project. By bringing Tharpe’s story to mainstream audiences, “Rosetta” has the potential to meaningfully expand public understanding of rock music’s origins and the central role of Black women in American musical innovation.
Looking forward to a musical revelation
While release timing for “Rosetta” remains unannounced, the project’s development signals an important step in recognizing overlooked figures in American cultural history. For music historians and critics who have long advocated for greater recognition of Tharpe’s contributions, the biopic represents a significant victory in the ongoing effort to reconstruct a more inclusive and accurate musical history.
For general audiences, the film promises both entertainment and enlightenment, the opportunity to discover an extraordinary artist whose music helped shape contemporary sound while gaining insight into the social dynamics that led to her historical marginalization.
As production moves forward, attention will likely focus on how Lizzo approaches this transformative role and whether the film can capture both the technical brilliance and charismatic performance style that made Sister Rosetta Tharpe such a revolutionary musical figure. If successful, “Rosetta” has the potential to permanently alter public understanding of rock and roll’s origins while establishing Lizzo as a multifaceted performer capable of bringing historical figures to vivid life on screen.
