For those who may not have known her Odetta was an iconic American folk singer.

Few of my own contemporaries knew who she was, but my mother was a big fan of folksingers from her era, and she was a great influence on musicians such as Bob Dylan, Harry Belafonte and Joan Baez. This is how I came to know of her.

"She made her name performing songs sung by ordinary people - housewives and working men, as well as prison songs and slave plantation "spirituals". And she could definitely make you feel raw emotion through song.

Odetta was also a great fighter for civil rights. In 1963 she took part in the civil rights march on Washington, USA and she sang O Freedom.

She died of heart disease on Tuesday at the Lennox Hill Hospital in New York. She was 77 years old.

Rest In Peace Odetta you won't be forgotten.

Image Credits: BBC