Madame Edna Gallmon Cooke (November 30, 1917 – September 4, 1967)[2] was an American gospel singer and recording artist from 1949 until her death in 1967.

As a young adult, she lived and studied in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, attending Temple University and briefly teaching elementary school.

She had contemplated a career in semi-classics and show tunes when she underwent a musical conversion of sorts after hearing gospel singer, Willie Mae Ford Smith in the late 1930s.

Gallmon Cooke's commanding switch in styles occurred after her marriage to Barney Parks, Jr., a former member of The Dixie Hummingbirds and a founder of The Sensational Nightingales.

The liner notes to "Mother Smith and Her Children" describes Madame Cooke as "an exquisite stylist, with a sensuous appeal akin to Billie Holiday.