Sallie Martin (1895 - 1988), aka "Mother of Gospel Music" 

"Mother" Willie Mae Ford Smith (1904 - 1994)

Roberta Martin (1902 - 1964)

Gertrude "Ma Rainey" Bridgett (1886 - 1936), aka "Mother of the Blues"

Alberta Hunter (1895 - 1984)

Memphis Minnie Mc Coy (1897 - 1973)

Marian Anderson (1897 - 1993)

Dinah Washington (1924 - 1963), aka "Queen of the Blues"

Shirley Caesar (b. 1938)

Bessie Smith (1894 - 1937), aka "Empress of the Blues"

Sister Rosetta Thorpe (1915 - 1973)

Alberta Walker (1929 - 2010), aka "Queen of Gospel"

Arlette B. Broil (1922 - 1989), aka "Bessie Griffin"

Clara Ward (1924 - 1973)

Mahalia Jackson (1911 - 1972)

Billie Holiday (1915 - 1959), aka "Lady Day"

Dorothy Love Coates (1928 - 2002)

Ella Fitzgerald (1917 - 1996), aka "First Lady of Song"

Willie Mae Thornton (1926 - 1984), aka "Big Mama"

Odetta Holmes (1930 - 2008)

Aretha Franklin (1942 - 2018), aka "The Queen of Soul"

Dr. Nina Simone (1933 - 2003), aka "High Priestess of Soul"

Sarah Lois Vaughn (1924 - 1990), aka "The Divine One"