Lizzo is set to play rock & roll pioneer Sister Roestta Tharp in a new film in development by Amazon MGM Studios, per Deadline.
A brilliant guitarist and singer, Tharpe was a major influence to scores of rockers, including Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Johnny Cash, and Bob Dylan. “A queer black woman from Arkansas who shredded on electric guitar, belted praises both to God and secular pleasures, and broke the color line touring with white singers, she was gospel’s first superstar, and she most assuredly rocked,” wrote Rolling Stone contributor Will Hermes when Tharpe was to be inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s “Influences” category in 2017.
According to Deadline, Rosetta will trace Tharpe’s career and then-taboo love life as a secretly queer woman. It will also highlight her heterosexual marriage to her manager Russell Morrison in front of 25,000 paying fans in Washington, becoming one of rock’s first stadium shows. What began as a PR stunt turned into lifelong nuptials. “The legally binding wedding featured Tharpe’s back-up singers as her bridesmaids and followed the ceremony with a live show for the audience, who were in on the theatrics of the stunt,” wrote Rolling Stone’s Brittany Spanos in 2021.
Lizzo will serve as one of the film’s producers alongside Forest Whitaker, Kevin Beisler, and Nina Yang Bongiovi. Natalie Chaidez and Kwynn Perry will write the screenplay.
Lizzo of course has made a bit of history herself, becoming the first Black woman to win the Grammy for Record of the Year since 1994 for her hit “About Damn Time” in 2023. Before that, her breakout single “Truth Hurts” topped the Hot 100 for seven weeks, becoming the longest-running Number One by a solo female rap artist ever. On the big screen, Lizzo had a role in 2019’s Hustlers with fellow pop stars Jennifer Lopez and Cardi B.
As of late, Lizzo has dropped two singles: “Still Bad” and “Love In Real Life.” The latter shares its name with her fifth album, which is on the way.
From Rolling Stone US
