Died On This Date (March 10, 1997) LaVern Baker / R&B Great
LaVern Baker
November 11, 1929 – March 10, 1997
Originally going by the stage name of Little Miss Sharecropper, the early queen of R&B rose to fame when she signed to Ahmet Ertegun’s Atlantic Records and changed her professional name to Lavern Baker. In the 60s, Miss Baker went to Vietnam to entertain the troops and on the advice of a friend, she stayed in the Philippines for the next 22 years and worked as the entertainment director at a Marine Corps nightclub for the US government. LaVern Baker passed away from a heart condition on this date in 1997.