TULSA, Okla. – Musician and Muscogee citizen Linda Imperial has had incredible success over the course of her career, and now, she’s returning to her roots with her latest single “Tulsa Rose.”
Imperial spoke with Mvskoke Media’s LiveWire about her life in music.
Her song “Tulsa Rose” was inspired by stories of her great-grandmother, Nancy Harjo Posey, and her grandmother, Matty Posey. “I believe that If they could have endured times of such incredible misery and upheaval, I should be able to endure anything and persevere,” Imperial wrote previously about the song.
Imperial was born in Tulsa but left at an early age, and now she’s returning to her family’s roots on the Muscogee Reservation. She grew up all over eastern Oklahoma in towns like Pawhuska, Hominy, Tulsa, and Broken Arrow. Her upbringing, along with her family largely consisting of singers and musicians, greatly influenced her and her music.
To her, music was her way of “letting our spirit out and releasing my spirit,”she said. Music was always a part of her life, whether it was her singing with family or achieving breakout success with the dance music group Loverde in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Her love of music and singing has led to an incredible career. Imperial has performed with numerous groups such as Jefferson Starship and New York Jazz Explosion.
For Imperial, the process of working on this song and the song itself was a way of paying homage to the women in her family, “who were just such strong, beautiful Native American women,” Imperial stated. Likewise, Imperial shared that she pays homage to the elders who taught her so much and struggled so much to give them a good life.
“I wanted people to understand that women are so incredibly powerful and important in the world of the human race.” Linda Imperial’s new song “Tulsa Rose” is available on her website, https://www.lindaimperialmusic.com/, as well as YouTube and Spotify.
