Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett was born April 26th, 1886 in Columbus, GA to parents who were minstrel troup players. Rainey would earn the right to be called the Mother of the Blues. In 1904 she met and married William "Pa" Rainey and they toured the South performing in tent shows and small clubs. Ma Rainey met Bessie Smith in 1912 when she and Pa went to work for the Moses Stokes troupe, with whom it's believed she had a sexual relationship. Decades before Stonewall, Rainey wrote, performed, and recorded "Prove It On Me Blues" about a women-loving women.
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