Died On This Date (April 30, 2007) Zola Taylor / The Platters
themusicsover 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.
What You Should Own
Vicki Sue Robinson had many accomplishments in music, theater and film, but it would be her smash it “Turn The Beat Around” that would forever make her a disco queen. Her life as an entertainer began at age six when she joined her mother on stage at the storied Philadelphia Folk Festival. At sixteen she was on Broadway as a cast member of Hair. She landed a couple of film roles, most notably Going Home and To Find A Man and by 1973, she was performing in the Broadway production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Then in 1975, while singing backing vocals on a friend’s album, she was offered a contract with RCA Records. 1976 saw the release of her debut, Never Gonna Let You Go, that included the smash hit, “Turn The Beat Around.” The album went to number one on the Billboard pop charts and earned Robinson a Grammy nomination. Robinson’s career continued to flourish through early 2000, but she never matched the success of that first album. Besides making her own records, her later years found her doing plenty of session work as well as acting on film and stage. And of course, “Turn The Beat Around” continued to find new audiences thanks to a popular cover by Gloria Estefan and from Robinson’s live appearances on the disco revival circuit. Robinson died from cancer on April 27, 2000 at just 46.
Lisa Lopes was part of the Grammy winning R&B singing trio TLC, and was on her way to super-stardom when her life was tragically cut short at the age of 30. TLC hit huge in 1992 with the release of Ooooooohhh…On The TLC Tip which sold in the neighborhood of six million copies. They followed that up with the 15 million-selling CrazySexyCool. By 1999, TLC albums had sold upwards of 30 million units, easily making them one of the most successful female groups of all time. In the early 2000s, Lopes was off on a solo career, guest rapping on several hit records while working on her own solo debut which came out in 2001. But in the spring of 2002, Lopes was taking a break from working on her second solo album as well as TLC’s fourth album by visiting Honduras. On April 25, Lopes was killed when the SUV she was driving rolled several times after swerving to miss another car. Lopes was thrown from the vehicle and died from injuries she sustained.
Nina Simone was a vocalist whose style defied categorization. She might have been a jazz singer to one, but another would call her soul. To another, gospel, and yet to another, R&B. but above all, she was just great, having been nominated for a Grammy 15 times. With over 40 studio and live albums to her credit, and as a civil rights activist, she made an indelible contribution to African-American culture. Mary J. Blige, Lauryn Hill and Alicia Keys have all cited her as a major influence. Simone passed away in her home on April 21, 2003 after a long illness.
