Key Takeaways

• Lizzo makes her acting debut in Amazon’s Rosetta, portraying music legend Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
• The film highlights Tharpe’s foundational role in rock and roll and her influence on future generations.
• Lizzo has been preparing for the role by learning guitar and channeling Tharpe’s stage presence.

Amazon MGM Studios’ upcoming music biopic, Rosetta, will spotlight the legacy of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the “Godmother of rock and roll.” Lizzo, a classically trained flutist and Grammy-winning artist, will make her movie debut portraying the trailblazing musician in a role spotlighting one of the most influential Black women in rock history.

“I’m so excited to dive into her world and play her up! Because I do want to give her a certain mythology. She deserves to be canonized,” Lizzo told Paper magazine. To prepare for the role, she’s been learning guitar and channeling Tharpe’s gospel-rock energy on stage.

“She was the greatest guitar player of all time — I mean, she literally invented the electric guitar,” she explained. That level of dedication and acting prowess earned Jamie Foxx an Academy Award when he starred in the Ray Charles biopic, Ray. But Lizzo is not motivated by the potential accolades.

“I’m not doing it because I want an Oscar... and I said this about ‘[Lizzo’s Watch Out for] the Big Grrrls’ show — I’m not doing it to win an Emmy. I want to make Sister Rosetta Tharpe a household name as big as Elvis. When people talk about rock [and] roll, it begins with her,” she said. Tharpe’s genre-melding style inspired icons such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Johnny Cash, and more.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s legacy is in good hands with Lizzo

In a March Instagram post, the songwriter revealed she had been trying to get a screenplay about the rock idol's legacy greenlit for years. “I’ve been honoring her in my music videos [and] performances, pitching her movie to people who’ve never heard of her, studying her life and reading every book that exists about her. This is my baby, my passion — because Rosetta deserves [it]. The ‘Godmother of rock [and] roll’ is in good hands, y’all," she wrote.

Rosetta will mark Lizzo’s film debut. The biopic centers on Tharpe’s signature groundbreaking guitar sound and how she broke past societal constraints as a Black and LGBTQ woman in the 1950s. With this biopic, Lizzo isn’t just stepping into a new role — she’s helping bring long-overdue recognition to a music titan whose sound continues to shape generations.