Queen of the Blues, Koko Taylor, Dead at 80
According to MTV Online, Koko Taylor, blues impresario and multiple Grammy nominee, has died from complications from gastrointestinal surgery to stem bleeding.
"With the passing of Koko Taylor the world has lost a true icon." Said Neil Portnow, president and CEO of the Recording Academy, which puts on the Grammys. "The 'Queen of Chicago Blues' not only performed with many blues icons, but her regal bearing and powerful voice also influenced artists across multiple genres. Her extraordinary gift and talent will remain with us forever through her recordings."
Ironically, Taylor, who often said she wanted to die onstage while singing the blues, almost got her wish--dying less than four months after receiving her 29th award at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis, Tennessee.
Born Cora Walton in 1928, Taylor, the daughter of a sharecropper, Koko's talents were discovered early as she sang the blues with her five brothers and sister, using homemade instruments.
A little over 24 years later, Taylor landed in the bustling city of Chicago with husband Robert 'Pop' Taylor. By day she worked as a domestic, cleaning the houses of the rich and famous in the North Side. But when the sun went down, she went downtown, singing in South Side music clubs and juke joints where she became an in-demand vocalist.
Her big break, though, came in 1962, as arranger and composer Willie Dixon approached her one night and helped her get a contract with Chess Records, allowing her to record a single "Wang Dang Doodle" which later became a multi-platinum hit.
Chess Records folded not long after "Doodle" hit the airwaves--whether because of financial difficulties or because of the problems associated with marketing bluesmen and women in a market increasingly saturated by rock and roll artists such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
Following Chess's demise, Taylor moved to Chicago's Alligator Records, where she stayed from 1975 to 2007. During her 32 year tenure, she nine albums, all of which were nominated for Grammy nominations.
Her growly vocals and sassy demeanor became a model for future female blues artists, including Janis Joplin and Bonnie Raitt. In 2004, she was honored with an NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award, the highest honor ever given to an artist.
She was 80.
