Mahalia Jackson's star burned brightly on the American music scene, after a slow start hampered by poverty and racism.  Her style influenced generations of singers and left a legacy that many follow today.  Born in New Orleans, raised mostly by relatives, she fled to Chicago in 1928 and endured some very hard life and little recognition until her chance "discovery" by Hugues Panassie in New York in the mid-1940s.  By the early 1950s, she had appeared on television and signed on with Columbia Records.  Within a few years, she was a household name, known to all as the Queen of Gospel.  Her energetic, soulful style, coupled with great technical skill and personal charisma carried her to the world's great stages.  She was a great force in the civil rights movement and with record sales of 22 million copies, her voice was imprinted on a new generation of singers and musicians.  Sadly, in 1972 at 60, she died in hospital - like many cultural giants, gone too soon.