Donald Bogle: "Heat Wave"

From The Diane Rehm Show, which is produced by member-supported WAMU 88.5 in Washington DC:

Famed gospel singer Ethel Waters was given a standing ovation after she spoke at the Billy Graham crusade in Seattle's Kingdome on Sunday, May 10, 1976 . The famed singer sang "His Eye Is On the Sparrow." (AP Photo/Brownell)

Few American entertainers have rivaled the success of Ethel Waters. Born to a teen mother as the result of a rape, she began her career in Black Vaudeville and reached new heights in the nightclubs of Harlem in the 1920’s. Her unique singing style ushered in the age of the modern popular song – and made her the highest paid woman in show business. Not content with just a recording career, Ethel Waters wowed audiences on Broadway and won an Oscar nomination. In her later years, however, she was best known for singing with Billy Graham’s crusade and spurning the civil rights movement. Diane and her guest, biographer Donald Bogle, discuss the complex life and career of Ethel Waters.

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