Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor has been tapped by Live Nation Productions to write an upcoming feature about Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Godmother of Rock and Roll.
Mick Jagger’s Jagged Films is producing along with Tribeca Studios and Inaudible Productions, and they are partnered with Tharpe’s estate and have the rights to her music catalog.
This film is unrelated to the Amazon MGM Studios biopic that was announced earlier this year. That film is set to star Lizzo.
Aside from having estate support and having the rights to Tharpe’s catalog, the producers for this project also have the rights to Gayle Wald’s biography, Shout, Sister, Shout!: The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe. A companion documentary is also in pre-production, which will “feature her beloved music catalog and explore Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s legacy through interviews with friends, collaborators, music scholars, and proteges, including Wald’s exclusive recordings with Gospel singer Marie Knight, Tharpe’s closest friend and collaborator.”
As Live Nation Productions noted, “after collaborating with Ellis-Taylor as an actor, the producers were introduced to her work as a screenwriter and moved by her deep, personal connection to Tharpe’s story.” Ellis-Taylor’s prior acting work includes the James Brown biopic Get on Up, produced by Jagged Films, as well as the Netflix series When They See Us, which was produced by Tribeca Studios.
More on the Rosetta Tharpe biopic
Here’s more on the project and Tharpe, per Live Nation Productions:
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a trailblazing gospel guitarist and singer whose fearless transgressions of musical boundaries laid the foundation for rock and roll. Tharpe has influenced legends like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry, Tina Turner, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, and Little Richard. Breaking barriers as a Black woman in music, she has earned the title of Godmother of Rock and Roll and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Jagger and Victoria Pearman are producing for Jagged Films, with Jane Rosenthal and Berry Welsh producing for Tribeca Studios, Peter Afterman for Inaudible Productions, and Ryan Koft and Michael Rapino for Live Nation Productions. Wald is executive producing.
What Ellis-Taylor and the producers say about the project
Jagger said in a statement, “I’m so thrilled to be a part in telling the story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe who was a trailblazing singer and electrifying guitarist. She reshaped music history and influenced countless artists.”
Rosenthal added, “We are proud to champion the bold storytelling of Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor to bring this enigmatic icon’s story to light.”
With six guitar strings and an amplifier as a battering ram, Sister Rosetta Tharpe knocked down the Jericho walls of convention and respectability,” said Ellis-Taylor. I’m thrilled to partner with Tribeca, Jagged Films and Inaudible Films to usher, Sister Rosetta, a queer woman shaped in the pews of the BlackSouth, to the screen.”
“Bringing to life Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s story is a perfect example of the projects Live Nation Productions does best, and partnering with this incredible team will make the film second to none,” said Ryan Kroft, Head of Film & Television for Live Nation Productions
