Odetta Holmes, usually known as just Odetta, was considered to be “The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement” in the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s. She died Tuesday, at the age of 77. The doctors at the New York City Lenox Hill Hospital concluded that the singer had died because of heart disease.

Born in 1960, Odetta was a singer, an actress, a guitarist, a songwriter and a human rights activist. During her musical ascent in the 1950s and 1960s, she focused on American folk music, blues, jazz and spirituals. Many artists admitted that their music and careers were influenced by her and her music. Among such artists are legends like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez or Janis Joplin.

It seems that “Janis spent much of her adolescence listening to Odetta, who was also the first person Janis imitated when she started singing.”

With Dylan, things were similar, as the famous artist himself stated: “The first thing that turned me on to folk singing was Odetta. I heard a record of hers [Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues] in a record store, back when you could listen to records right there in the store. Right then and there, I went out and traded my electric guitar and amplifier for an acoustical guitar, a flat-top Gibson. ... [That album was] just something vital and personal. I learned all the songs on that record. It was her first and the songs were- “Mule Skinner”, “Waterboy”, “Jack of Diamonds”, “Buked and Scorned”.” As a tribute, In 1965, Odetta recorded an album of Dylan covers, Odetta Sings Dylan.

Joan Baez spoke similarly about one of her biggest influences: “Odetta was a goddess. Her passion moved me. I learned everything she sang.”