UNPRECEDENTED ACHIEVEMENTS
Rose broke into the white, male-dominated music business during the time of segregation
She composed over 850 songs/jingles
She wrote songs for many of history’s greatest artists – Aretha Franklin, Nat King Cole, Tina Turner and Elvis Presley
To date, her songs have been recorded by more than 360 artists
The Devil's Music or a Dream?
Rose Marie McCoy succeeded in breaking through the white, male-dominated music industry of the 1950’s, and left a lasting legacy of over 850 songs. It has been said that she’s one of the “most prolific songwriters you’ve never heard of.” It’s time to change that.
Rose was born as Marie Hinton in Oneida, Arkansas and grew up working on the family farm. Despite being considered the “Devil’s Music” in her small town, her love of the blues was developed by spending time standing outside a club in the town where she attended high school. Rose was hooked, and she wanted to become a professional singer.
The Trailblazer
At the age of 19, Rose moved from Arkansas to New York City with $6 and a dream. She found success, but not immediately, and took on day jobs while performing at night. She met and married James McCoy, who served in the US army. Rose had her first big break while he was serving abroad, and she began to travel the Chitlin’ Circuit, a collection of venues for African American performers during the era of segregation. She opened for many top musicians, and loved singing, but it was her songwriting that really took off.
The realization that her natural songwriting abilities were stronger than her singing led her to write some wildly popular songs for some very big stars.
A Shining Star
As mainstream music was shifting to Rock’n’Roll, which was heavily influenced by the music of African-American artists, Rose continued to write and shine. She made a name for herself when Elvis Presley released a record with one of the songs she wrote. Partnering up with Charles Singleton led to 7 top hits and the freedom Rose wanted in controlling her own career. She wrote songs for some of the biggest names in music and changed
She continued writing until her death in 2015 and was inducted into the Arkansa Jazz Hall of Fame, posthumously, in 2018.