With the release of her full-length debut, Heard It In a Past Life, Maggie Rogers has been making huge TV appearances, including Saturday Night Live, and her tour dates across America are selling out.

For the final installment of the Gospel roots of Rock and Soul series, today World Cafe explores how gospel was absorbed into mainstream music and society in America.

By the mid-20th century, gospel music was a force in America. It was capturing the attention of record companies and audiences across the nation.

In a special three-day series starting today, World Cafe explores the Gospel roots of Rock and Soul. We’ll begin with the foundation of Black gospel, examining how spirituals informed the gospel music of the great quartets, like The Dixie Hummingbirds, The Pilgrim Travelers, The Golden Gates, The Caravans, and The Soul Stirrers, featuring Sam Cooke.