CHICAGO — Koko Taylor, a sharecropper’s daughter whose regal bearing and powerful voice earned her the sobriquet “Queen of the Blues,” has died after complications from surgery. She was 80.
Taylor died Wednesday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital about two weeks after having surgery for a gastrointestinal bleed, said Marc Lipkin, with her record label, Alligator Records.
“The passion that she brought and the fire and the growl in her voice when she sang was the truth,” blues singer and musician Ronnie Baker Brooks said Wednesday. “The music will live on, but it’s much better because of Koko. It’s a huge loss.”
Taylor’s career stretched more than five decades. While she did not have widespread mainstream success, she was revered and beloved by blues aficionados, and earned worldwide acclaim for her work, which including the best-selling song “Wang Dang Doodle” and tunes such as “What Kind of Man is This” and “I Got What It Takes.”
Taylor appeared on national television numerous times, and was the subject of a PBS documentary and had a small part in director David Lynch’s “Wild at Heart.”
“What a loss to the blues world,” said Chicago blues legend Buddy Guy. “She was one of the last of the greats of Chicago and really did what she could to keep the blues alive here, like I’m trying to do now.”
In the course of her career, Taylor was nominated seven times for Grammy awards and won in 1984.
Taylor last performed on May 7 in Memphis, Tenn., at the Blues Music Awards.
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