Mississippi’s capital is renaming one of its major streets for a Grammy-winning blues singer who lives in the city. The Jackson City Council voted Tuesday to rename Ellis Avenue to Bobby Rush Boulevard, WLBT-TV reported. The north-south corridor provides a direct route from Interstate 20 to the Jackson Zoo.
The name change takes effect in a month. Rush has won two Grammy Awards for best traditional blues album — one in 2016 and one in 2020.
Rush is a Louisiana native and lived in Arkansas and Chicago before moving to Jackson in the 1980s. A Mississippi Blues Trail marker says Rush is known for a “folk funk” style. He spoke to the Jackson City Council in April when a member first proposed renaming the street for him. He said he and his family faced racism in the Jim Crow South.
“I remember three white guys, two riding a horse and one guy leading a horse, when my daddy was getting hay out of a barn as a Black man. They asked my mom, ’What are you doing with this n-word?’” Rush said. He said his mother replied that she is also Black.
“She had to go into the store and prove she was a Black woman to save my daddy’s life,” Rush said.
The band confirmed his death on Friday, days before their 40th anniversary.
"I promise you we did everything we could," the singer said on stage in New York City.
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The album also includes the brand new song 'I'm Never Gonna R.I.P.' - check it out here
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