In 1937, Mahalia Jackson would release her first set of four singles for Decca Records. The sales were low, and Mahalia faced pressure from the record label to move away from Gospel music to more secular blues songs. Mahalia refused, and eventually signed with a new record label, Apollo Records, in 1946. 

Mahalia would initially record five singles with Apollo Records. In 1947, her fifth single “Move On Up a Little Higher” would go on to sell over 2 million copies. It peaked at number two on the Billboard Top 100, the first gospel song to reach that level of popularity. Mahalia would go on to record several more songs with Apollo Records that would sell over a million copies, including “Even Me”, “Just Over the Hill”, and “In the Upper Room”. 

By 1954, Mahalia Jackson was a national icon. She became the first gospel singer to be signed by Columbia Records, the largest recording company in the United States. Working with a large record label allowed Mahalia to evolve her musical style, adding elements like orchestras, backup singers, electric guitars and drums that were associated with pop music. Nevertheless, Mahalia chartered her own territory in gospel music by constantly evolving and  blending genres. In 1961, she won the first Grammy for Best Gospel or other Religious Recording with her album “Everytime I Feel the Spirit.” 

She is estimated to have sold 22 million records in her career, and her success helped create the “Golden Age of Gospel Music.” The mural depicts Mahalia surrounded by her many records as she sings with all the passion in her soul.