Lizzo Lands First Lead Acting Role as Rock Star Rosetta Tharpe: ‘I’m So Excited and Honored’

Lizzo is ready to rock and roll!

The Grammy award winner has landed her first lead role as she is set to play Sister Rosetta Tharpe, an American gospel singer known as the “Godmother of rock and roll,” in Amazon MGM Studios’ Rosetta.

Lizzo, 36, took to Instagram to share her excitement, sharing a photo of Deadline’s coverage (which first reported the news) with the caption, “Black people made rock n roll yeaaaah.”

On her Instagram story, Lizzo also wrote “It’s finally out ya’ll. I’m so excited and honored.”

Rosetta will be written by Natalie Chaidez (The Flight Attendant, Queen of the South) and Kwynn Perry (Tigerbelles, The Burned Photo). Along with Lizzo, producers for the project include Kevin Beisler, Significant Productions’ Nina Yang Bongiovi and Forest Whitaker.

Tharpe was a gospel singer who started to gain popularity in the 1930s by mixing spiritual lyrics with electric guitar and has been nicknamed the “Godmother of rock and roll.”

The biopic will be Lizzo’s first feature film role since 2019’s Hustlers, which she starred in alongside Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu. Lizzo played a stripper named Liz in the Lorene Scafaria-directed crime comedy about a crew of New York City strippers who steal money by drugging stock traders and CEOs who visit their club.

The singer/rapper also recently made a guest television appearance in The Mandalorian as The Duchess.

Lizzo — whose real name is Melissa Jefferson — has recently been speaking up about her mental health and recent weight loss amid the release of her new single and music video for “Still Bad” ahead of her new album Love in Real Life.

During a concert at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles on Wednesday, March 12, the “Juice” singer talked about struggling with depression in 2023. She was sued by former backup dancers on allegations of harassment and a toxic workplace environment in August of that year and has denied all allegations.

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According to videos shared to social media, Lizzo opened up about her mental health while sharing the inspiration behind her upcoming album’s title.

“I named it that because about a year and a half ago — it’s so hard for me to talk about — I was in such a dark, deep depression,” Lizzo said. “I was so heartbroken by the world and so deeply hurt that I didn’t want to live anymore, and I was so deeply afraid of people that I didn’t want to be seen. Eventually I got over that fear.”

Lizzo explained she had a breakthrough moment while attending a concert at the time. “As I was walking through the crowd to get to my spot, something miraculous happened. Somebody, who I didn’t know, looked at me and said, ‘Lizzo, I love you.’ And they reached out, and I reached back, and we hugged, and it felt so damn good,” she said.

Lizzo currently faces multiple ongoing lawsuits filed by some of her former employees alleging sexual and racial harassment and a hostile work environment. She has denied all the allegations.