Died On This Date (August 26, 1992) Professor Eddie Lusk / Chicago Blues Musician
themusicsover Eddie Lusk
September 21, 1948 – August 26, 1992
Raised by parents who were Pentacostal ministers, Eddie Lusk was exposed to gospel music at a very young age. And although he, himself became ordained in 1968, he couldn’t resist the call of the blues music he heard around him on Chicago’s south side. A pianist since childhood, Lusk went on to play with some of the biggest names in contemporary blues. That list includes Luther Allison, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy and Koko Taylor. Lusk learned he was suffering from colon cancer in 1992. That revelation apparently lead him to jump to his death into the Chicago River on August 26, 1992.
Thanks to Suzanne Swanson for the assist
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 
Born in Poland, a young (and not yet called) Leonard Chess moved with his family to Chicago in 1928. Leonard and his brother Phil got into the music business by way of the Macomba Lounge, a popular Black club they took over in 1946. Shortly thereafter, Leonard began working with a local jazz and black label called Aristocrat Records. He and his brother eventually took it over and began changing its focus to the down and dirty sound of the blues they had fallen in love with. By the time they were done, they had made seminal records with the likes of