Died On This Date (March 21, 2011) Loleatta Holloway / Soul and Disco Star
themusicsover Loleatta Holloway
November 5, 1946 – March 21, 2011
Loleatta Holloway was a beloved soul and disco singer who, over the course of a career that spanned more than 40 years, landed numerous singles on the pop, R&B and dance charts. Her hits included such dance floor fillers as “Love Sensation” and “Hit and Run,” as well as the soulful ballad, “Cry To Me.” But it might have been her powerful vocal parts (sampled) in Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch’s 1991 #1 smash “Good Vibrations” that she is most often associated with. The song would signal a comeback for Holloway and help propel Marky Mark (aka Mark Wahlberg) to an eventual world-class film career. It was Holloway’s original recording of “Love Sensation” that is predominantly featured on the record. Holloway began her career as a Gospel singer in Chicago, at one time even singing with the great Albertina Walker. In the ’70s she began making soul records and by the end of the decade she was delivering disco hits. That continued until disco took a back seat to new wave and hair metal during the mid to late ’80s. And then as hip-hop and sampling took hold in the ’90s, Holloway was back in vogue. She continued recording and performing live well into the 2000s. On March 21, 2011 Loleatta Holloway passed away following a brief illness. She was 64.
Pinetop Perkins was a Delta blues pianist and singer whose remarkable career spanned from the 1920s until his passing in 2011. At 97, he was one of the last surviving original Delta bluesmen who were still playing and releasing records. In March of 2011, he became the oldest person to ever win a Grammy. It was for Joined At The Hip that he recorded with 
Aashid Himons was a beloved reggae and world music performer who was a fixture of the Nashville club scene for many years. Himons’ career stretched as far back as the ’50s when he, under his given name of Archie Himons was performing doo wop and R&B throughout the New York City and Washington DC areas. For a time, he fronted his own Little Archie & the Majestics. He eventually settled in Nashville where he fronted Afrikan Dreamland who was reportedly the first reggae group to be played on MTV during its infancy. It was during that period that he and the group gained much of its popularity thanks in part to heavy play on college radio stations. On March 19, 2011, Aashid Himons passed away following a long illness. He was 68.
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