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Gospel Great Marie Knight Dies

According to the Associated Press:

Gospel legend Marie Knight, who came to prominence while touring with longtime musical partner Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the 1940s, has died. She was 84.

Mark Carpentieri, her manager and owner of M.C. Records, said Knight died Sunday at a nursing home in Harlem due to complications from pneumonia.

Raised in Newark, N.J., she began touring the national gospel circuit with evangelist Frances Robinson while still in her 20s.

In 1946, she began touring with Tharpe and the two became the most popular gospel artists of the 1940s with a string of hits, including “Didn’t It Rain,” “Up Above My Head,” and “Beams of Heaven.” The two would tour frequently throughout the 1950s.

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