1930年除夕之夜，奥黛塔在美国阿拉巴马州伯明翰出生。在奥黛塔六岁时，她与妈妈和妹妹一同搬到洛杉矶居住。从小对音乐狂热的她，在大约十岁那年的某一天走在从教堂去往学校的路上，她的歌声被发现。奥黛塔的母亲开始为她的声乐课攒钱，但老师建议等奥黛塔13岁进入青春期时再去参加声乐课。
多亏她的母亲，奥黛塔在13岁顺利开始了声乐课。由于母亲无力帮助她支付课程费用，她的训练课程被迫中断。然而此时木偶师Harry Burnette替奥黛塔求情并付学费使得她能够继续声乐训练。
《彩虹仙子》在1949年夏天被搬上洛杉矶的希腊大剧院，19岁的奥黛塔扮演作品中的一个角色。正是在表演过程中，他第一次听到布鲁斯口琴大师Sonny Terry的演奏。次年夏天，奥黛塔又一次在加利福尼亚的夏令表演中出演。
在去旧金山表演音乐剧《红男绿女》之后，她在北部海滩休假过程中第一次体验了当地民谣音乐不断发展的场景。夏天结束后，她回到洛杉矶，之前她曾经在洛杉矶当过女管家并住在雇主家中。然而这一次她出现在美国著名低音歌唱家Paul Robeson的表演海报上。
1953年，奥黛塔从家庭清洁工的工作中抽出一段时间去纽约休假旅行并出息了著名的“Blue Angel folk club”。Pete Seeger和Harry Belafonte都对奥黛塔的职业生涯很感兴趣。终于，在1954年奥黛塔发布了她的首张专辑The Tin Angel。
by Philip Van Vleck
Odetta was born on New Years Eve 1930 in Birmingham, AL. By the time she was six years old, shed moved with her younger sister and mother to Los Angeles. She showed a keen interest in music from the time she was a child, and when she was about ten years old, somewhere between church and school, her singing voice was discovered. Odettas mother began saving money to pay for voice lessons for her, but was advised to wait until her daughter was 13 years old and well into puberty.
Thanks to her mother, Odetta did begin voice lessons when she was 13. She received a classical training, which was interrupted when her mother could no longer afford to pay for the lessons. The puppeteer Harry Burnette interceded and paid for Odetta to continue her voice training.
When she was 19 years old, Odetta landed a role in the Los Angeles production of Finians Rainbow, which was staged in the summer of 1949 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. It was during the run of this show that she first heard the blues harmonica master Sonny Terry. The following summer, Odetta was again performing in summer stock in California. This time it was a production of Guys and Dolls, staged in San Francisco. Hanging out in North Beach during her days off, Odetta had her first experience with the growing local folk music scene. Following her summer in San Francisco, Odetta returned to Los Angeles, where she worked as a live-in housekeeper. During this time she performed on a show bill with Paul Robeson.
In 1953, Odetta took some time off from her housecleaning chores to travel to New York City and appear at the famed Blue Angel folk club. Pete Seeger and Harry Belafonte had both taken an interest in her career by this time, and her debut album, The Tin Angel, was released in 1954. From this time forward, Odetta worked to expand her repertoire and make full use of what she has always termed her instrument. When she began singing, she was considered a coloratura soprano. As she matured, she became more of a mezzo-soprano. Her experience singing folk music led her to discover a vocal range that runs from coloratura to baritone.
Odettas most productive decade as a recording artist came in the 1960s, when she released 16 albums, including Odetta at Carnegie Hall, Christmas Spirituals, Odetta and the Blues, Its a Mighty World, and Odetta Sings Dylan. In 1999 she released her first studio album in 14 years, Blues Everywhere I Go. Vanguard Records has released two excellent Odetta compilations: The Essential Odetta (1989) and Best of the Vanguard Years (1999). On September 29, 1999, President Bill Clinton presented Odetta with the National Endowment for the Arts Medal of the Arts, a fitting tribute to one of the great treasures of American music.
The next few years found Odetta releasing some new full-length albums, including Livin with the Blues and a collection of Leadbelly tunes, Looking for a Home. She toured North America, Latvia, and Scotland during this time and was mentioned in Martin Scorseses 2005 ary, No Direction Home. That same year Odetta released Gonna Let It Shine, which went on to receive a 2007 Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Folk Album.