Rosedale became closely linked to blues history through songs by Robert Johnson and other artists, and later through the legend of a bluesman selling his soul to the devil at the crossroads. Robert Johnson's 1937 recording "Traveling Riverside Blues" helped immortalize the town, and Cream later used the line "Goin' down to Rosedale" in their version of "Cross Road Blues," while Led Zeppelin also drew from Johnson's work. Johnson's lyrics followed the Riverside Division of the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad, which ran from Friars Point south to Rosedale, Riverside Junction, and other stops, continuing to Vicksburg and north to Memphis. In Rosedale, blues life historically centered on the juke joints of Bruce Street, which date to Johnson's era and earlier. The town, one of two seats of Bolivar County, was most active in the 1930s before the county's population began to decline. Delta blues pioneer Charley Patton had earlier sung about Rosedale in his 1929 recording "High Water Everywhere," about the 1927 Mississippi River flood. Musicians born in Rosedale include blues singer-pianist Dennis Binder and jazz drummer Isaac "Redd" Holt.
