clipped from: www.commondreams.org Odetta, the classically trained folk, blues and gospel singer who used her powerfully rich and dusky voice to champion African American music and civil rights issues for more than half a century starting in the folk revival of the 1950s, has died. She was 77.
![[Odetta, who used just her given name professionally, had trained as a classical vocalist as a child and later discovered folk music, which she said “really touched where I live.” She became an inspiration to other folk singers and eventually received a National Medal of Arts and a Living Legend Award. (
Los Angeles Times)]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/odetta1203.jpg "odetta1203.jpg")
Odetta, who used just her given name professionally, had trained as a classical vocalist as a child and later discovered folk music, which she said “really touched where I live.” She became an inspiration to other folk singers and eventually received a National Medal of Arts and a Living Legend Award. (
Los Angeles Times)She was said to have influenced the emergence of artists as varied as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin and Tracy Chapman.