Alabama Runs Deep.

Original Music Edition

They may represent Detroit and Houston, but look a little further up the family tree and Alabama starts showing up.

BEYONCÉ — GADSDEN ROOTS

Beyoncé was born and raised in Houston, but her father, Mathew Knowles, was born and raised in Gadsden, Alabama.

Mathew has spoken about growing up in Gadsden during desegregation and being one of the Black children who integrated schools there. Years later, that Alabama-born son would move to Houston, become a music executive and help guide Destiny’s Child—and his daughter Beyoncé—to worldwide success.

DIANA ROSS — BESSEMER WAS PART OF HER STORY

Detroit claims Diana Ross for good reason. She was born there and became one of the defining voices of Motown.

But her Alabama connection runs deep.

Her mother, Ernestine Moten, was born in Alabama, and Diana’s maternal family had deep Alabama roots.

And Diana didn’t only inherit the connection—she lived it.

When her mother became seriously ill with tuberculosis, young Diana and her siblings were sent south to live with their maternal grandparents in Bessemer, Alabama. Her grandfather was a minister, and Diana later recalled singing in his church.

Before the Supremes. Before Motown. Before the world knew Diana Ross, part of her childhood story was being written in Alabama.

THE CLARK SISTERS — SELMA BEFORE DETROIT

The Clark Sisters are synonymous with Detroit gospel, but the foundation beneath that sound reaches directly into Selma.

Their mother, legendary gospel musician and choir director Dr. Mattie Moss Clark, was born in Selma, Alabama, in 1925.

And the Alabama connection didn’t begin with her.

Mattie was raised in a family of ministers. Her mother preached, sang and played guitar, while young Mattie played piano for her mother’s church services and traveled with her to mission services. Mattie later studied music at Selma University before moving to Detroit.

There, the musical and spiritual foundation she carried from Alabama would become part of something much bigger: her groundbreaking work in gospel music—and eventually the voices of her daughters, The Clark Sisters.

So when we hear Beyoncé, Diana Ross or The Clark Sisters, Alabama may not be the first place that comes to mind.

But sometimes the city where the world discovers the music isn’t where the story began.

The roots run deeper. 👀