Blues Legend Koko Taylor Dies at 80

    Print |  Email More
    National treasure and blues legend Koko Taylor passed away Wednesday of complications due to recent surgery. The 80-year-old singer underwent a procedure to correct a gastrointestinal bleed on May 19 in Chicago, and had been expected to make a full and healthy recovery, according to a news post (dated May 28) on her official website.

    Just weeks earlier, on May 7, Taylor performed her iconic hit 'Wang Dang Doodle' at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis, where she accepted the award for Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year. She was honored to receive the award but it wasn't her first: Taylor holds the record for the artist with the most number of Blues Music Awards. She has 29 to her name, plus numerous other accolades including a Grammy and a NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award.

    Taylor was known as "Queen of the Chicago Blues," although "Koko" was also a nickname bestowed on her because of her chocolate obsession (her real name is Cora Taylor.) She was born in Memphis, and raised on gospel music before moving to Chicago, where Willie Dixon eventually landed her a recording contract with Chess Records. In 1965, one year after her debut, she hit pay-dirt with 'Wang Dang Doodle' and the rest, as they say, is history. And history will certainly hold a place for Koko Taylor's landmark 45-year career with its countless contributions to American blues music.



    Dearly Departed Musicians

      Dolla, May 18: The Atlanta-based rapper, whose real name is Roderick Anthony Burton II, was gunned down outside a Los Angeles mall. Burton's publicist told reporters he was waiting at a valet stand after a shopping trip when a gunman shot him. The The 'Make a Toast' star was 21. A suspect is in custody.

      Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

      Stephen Bruton: The guitarist and songwriter, who worked with the likes of Kris Kristofferson, Bonnie Raitt and Willie Nelson, died from complications of throat cancer in May 2009. He was 60.

      Ebet Roberts/Redferns , Getty Images

      Ean Evans: The Lynyrd Skynyrd bassist died in May 2009 after what the band called "a valiant battle with an aggressive form of cancer."

      Rusty Russell , Getty Images

      Vern Gosdin, April 29: The country hit-maker, best known for songs like 'I Can Tell By the Way You Dance (You're Gonna Love Me Tonight)' and 'I'm Still Crazy,' died in Nashville from complications due to a stroke.

      Chuck Krall / Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images

      Rev. Timothy Wright, April 23, 2009:The two-time Grammy-nominated gospel singer died following a July car crash that took the lives of his wife and his grandson.

      Mark Q. Murray, AP

      David "Pop" Winans, April 9, 2009: The gospel music patriarch -- BeBe and CeCe are his kids -- was twice nominated for Grammys, in 1989 for his album with wife Delores, pictured, and again in 1999 for a solo album. He died at a Nashville hospice, seven months after suffering a heart attack and stroke.

      Arnold Turner, WireImage / Getty Images

      Bud Shank, April 2, 2009: The alto saxophonist and flutist died at age 82. He was most famous for his work with acts like the Mamas and the Papas and his flute work can be heard on their song 'California Dreamin'.'

      GAB Archive / Redferns / Getty Images

      Hal Durham, March 29, 2009: He was a fixture on the Grand Ole Opry stage, working at the famed country music institution for 32 years. He was 77.

      Donnie Beauchamp, Gaylord Entertainment / AP

      Dan Seals, March 25, 2009: The singer, who scored a number of pop and country hits, died at 61 of leukemia. Seals was half of the pop duo, England Dan and John Ford Coley, best known for the ballad, 'I'd Really Love to See You Tonight.'

      Beth Gwinn, Retna

      Uriel Jones, March 24, 2009: One of the original members of the Funk Brothers, a Motown group that played with Marvin Gaye and The Temptations, Jones died after suffering complications from a heart attack. He was 74.

      Tabatha Fireman, Redferns / Getty Images

    Reader Comments(1 of 4)

    1234 Next >

    Add your comments

    If you are posting a comment for the first time, please enter your name and email address in the fields above. Your name will be displayed with your comment. Your email address will never be displayed.

    Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Off-topic, promotional or otherwise inappropriateinappropriate comments will be removed.

    When you enter your name and email address for the first time, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, as well as a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.