Born Gertrude Melissa Nix Pridgett, Ma Rainey ultimately became known as the "Mother of the Blues." At age fourteen, she joined the black vaudeville troupes touring the South. The troupes performed in tent shows, concentrating on pop music hits. Shortly after marrying William (Pa) Rainey, however, Ma Rainey began offering audiences a different kind of music. She began to work into her Rabbit Foot Minstrels act the plaintive, soulful music she had first heard sung by a young Missouri woman. As the music she dubbed the blues caught on, Rainey's fame grew.