For about 15 years, Jackson toured a circuit of churches and revivals spreading gospel blues throughout the U.S. working odd jobs to make a living.

Nine years later, she attracted the attention of Apollo Records, a small company catering to black artists and audiences.

She recorded four singles for them and again they did not perform well, but the fifth one, "Move On Up a Little Higher", sold two million copies and reached the number two spot on the Billboard charts in 1947, new achievements for gospel music.

Her recordings with Decca and Apollo are widely considered defining of gospel blues: they consist of traditional Protestant hymns, spirituals, and songs written by contemporary songwriters such as Thomas A. Dorsey and W. Herbert Brewster.

The earliest are sparsely accompanied by piano and organ although Apollo added acoustic guitar, bass, drum, and backup vocalists in the early 1950s.

She hosted The Mahalia Jackson Show that ran locally in Chicago for a few months in 1955, and appeared as a guest on many national programs.