What Louis Armstrong was to jazz, Mahalia Jackson was to gospel: An inspirational figure considered by many to be the genre's greatest of all time. Born in New Orleans in 1911, she first sang in the church at age four and later toured with one of the first professional gospel groups, the Johnson Brothers. Her 1948 single “Move On Up a Little Higher” was her breakthrough and her deep, resonant voice made her a star. Signing to Columbia in 1954, she recorded with everyone from Duke Ellington to Harpo Marx; her popularity transcended race and genre. She died in 1972.