11 Facts About Mable John

Mable John was an American blues vocalist and was the first female artist signed by Berry Gordy to Motown's Tamla label.

At a very young age, she and her parents, Mertis and Lillie Mable John, moved north into Arkansas, where her father got a job in a paper mill near Cullendale, where four of her brothers and two sisters were born.

Mable John attended Cleveland Intermediate School, and then Pershing High School.

Mable John subsequently ran into Mrs Gordy again, who told Mable that her son, Berry, was writing songs and was looking for people to record them.

Mable John released six more singles for the label, none of which captured her first single's success.

Mable John left secular music in 1973, and began managing Christian gospel acts, occasionally returning to the studio as a singer.

Mable John released a single on the London-based Motown revival label Motorcity Records entitled "Time Stops" in 1991.

In 1993, Mable John earned a Doctor of Divinity degree from the south Los Angeles ministry Crenshaw Christian Center.

Mable John played Bertha Mae, a veteran blues singer, in Mable John Sayles' 2007 movie Honeydripper, and appeared in the 2014 Oscar-winning documentary 20 Feet from Stardom.

Mable John died in Los Angeles on August 25,2022, at the age of 91.

Mable John received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1994.