Odetta Holmes was born on December 13, 1930 in Birmingham, Alabama to the parents of Flores Sanders and Reuben Holmes. When her father died in 937, her and her mom moved to Los Angeles, she then began to study classical music at the age of 13- soon earning a degree in that same genre from The College of Los Angeles City. In 1944, Odetta made a professional debut as a member of the Hollywood Turnabout Puppy Theatre for four years working alongside with Elsa Lanchester. 

Even after performing with different groups for years, Odetta didn’t start to appreciate her voice and the folk music genre until the 1950’s when she went on a road trip to San Francisco. While on the San Francisco road she began to get recognition for her ability to play the guitar and her unique voice singing varies of genres from folk to ballads to blues. Soon she would put out two albums, Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues (1956) and At the Gate of the Horn (1957). Holmes made over 35+ songs and over 30+ records reaching the hearts of African American men, women, and children. 

Through her heartwarming performances and political standings she was named “The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement” by Martin Luther King Jr. Holmes would move on to performing at the march in Washington in 1963 at which she sung ¨O Freedom”. Her vocals and spiritual connection to her people not only made her an icon in the musical industry but a savior and a voice to her own people. Odetta´s career was not only circled around folk music and the ties she had with the musical industry but the ties she had with the African American community, those who came before her and those who were going to come after her.

In November 2008, Odetta Holmes started to decline rapidly due to heart disease. On December 2, 2008 Odetta Holmes died and was unable to perform at Barack Obama´s inauguration.