In an era when women, not men, were the marquee names in Blues, Ma Rainey was once the most celebrated of all. She had been called "Mother of the Blues," "Songbird of the South", "Gold-Neck Woman of the Blues" and "The Paramount Wildcat."

Like other classic Blues divas, she had a repertoire of pop and minstrel songs as well as Blues, but she maintained a heavier, tougher sounding delivery than the cabaret Blues singers who followed. She was known for her very powerful vocal abilities, energetic disposition, majestic phrasing, and a "moaning" style of singing. Also unlike the cabaret singers, Rainey's records featured her with jug bands, guitar duos, and Bluesmen such as Tampa Red1 and Blind Blake2, as well as the more customary horns-and-piano, jazz-band accompaniment, occasionally including such luminaries as Louis Armstrong,3 Kid Ory,4 and Fletcher Henderson.5