Zola Taylor
March 17, 1938 – April 30, 2007
Miss Zola Taylor had the honor of being the female member of the Platters during their most prolific years of 1954 to 1962, and thereby contributing vocals to some of the most influential songs in all of R&B. And in one of popular music’s stranger stories, Taylor insisted she was Frankie Lymon’s second wife although she had no proof. And many years later, she unsuccessfully sued to gain ownership of Lymon’s catalog. The story of Frankie Lymon and his loves was made into the 1998 film, Why Do Fools Fall In Love in which Taylor is portrayed by Halle Barry. Zola Taylor passed away from pneumonia in 2007 at the age of 69.
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Cornell Gunter was a founding member of the Platters, one of R&B/rock ‘n roll’s most successful vocal groups. He was ALSO a member of another popular group, the Coasters. With the Platters, which he helped form in 1953, Gunter sang lead on such hits as “You Send Me,” and “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.” He left the group in 1960. With the Coasters, he sang on “Yakety Yak,” “Charlie Brown,” and “Poison Ivy.” Gunter made several solo recordings throughout his career as well. Cornell Gunter was in the process of launching a comeback in Las Vegas when he was gunned down by an unknown assailant on February 26, 2009. The crime was never solved.