Died On This Date (June 3, 2009) Koko Taylor / Queen of the Blues
themusicsover Koko Taylor (Born Cora Walton)
September 23, 1928 – June 3, 2009
Known as the Queen Of The Blues, Koko Taylor wowed audiences with her powerful voice for almost 50 years. Born on a sharecropper’s farm in Tennessee, Taylor moved to Chicago with her husband in the early ’50s. She began singing around town and was soon discovered by no less than Willie Dixon. Dixon’s approval helped her land more gigs and a recording contract with the legendary Chess Records. Her first single was the Dixon penned “Wang Dang Doodle” which hit #4 on the R&B charts and went on to sell over one million copies. Taylor continued to record critically acclaimed blues albums for the next 3 decades including more than a dozen for blues label giant, Alligator Records. Among her countless awards, Taylor has been nominated for several Grammys (winning one for Best Traditional Blues Album in 1995), and won a record-setting 25 WC Handy Blues Awards. Taylor continued to perform as many as 70 shows a year until her final years. Koko Taylor died two weeks after a gastrointestinal surgery. She was 80 years old.
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