Photo Courtesy of kokotaylor.com

Koko Taylor dies at 80 in Chicago


Dubbed “Queen of the blues,” Grammy Award-winner Koko Taylor passed away in Chicago this afternoon at 80-years-old from complications after a recent surgery to correct a gastrointestinal bleed.

“My least favorite thing to do after 18 years in the business is to write an obituary,” says Marc Lipkin, spokesperson for Alligator Records. Her legacy is overwhelmingly-gigantic, but down-to-earth.”

Best known for her version of “Wang Dang Doodle,” (written by Willie Dixon) Koko Taylor fiercely garnered the momentum to travel the world singing her version of the Blues over 4 decades. From a small sharecropper’s town outside of Memphis to the final performance at the 2009 Blues Music Awards—winning her 29th Blues Music Award. Taylor remained an avid force in a male-dominated industry. She and a handful of musicians traveled north in search of better lives. The streets and clubs of the Southside would forever be immortalized as the starting points of many Chicago blues icons. She would briefly own a club in the South Loop, only blocks from fellow blues musician and club-owner Buddy Guy.

"We go way back. She was very shy and so was I, so we hit it off. Willie Dixon and I had to get her out of her shell for 'Wang Dang Doodle'. I am very proud to have been part of 'Wang Dang Doodle'. What a loss to the blues world. 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," Buddy Guy said in a statement.


Born Cora Walton in 1928 she earned her nickname for her love of chocolate. Gospel music and early blues recordings influenced her to start singing. In 1952 she and her soon-to-be-husband moved to Chicago with very few belongings. In 1962 Willie Dixon got Taylor a recording contract with Chess Records. Three years later her signature song, “Wang Dang Doodle” penned by Dixon would propel her to stardom. When Chess Records was sold she would make a lateral move to Chicago’s Alligator Records, where eight out of nine albums were Grammy-nominated.

Taylor joins a host of musicians that defined a genre: Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Little Walter, Magic Sam, Howlin’ Wolf the list goes on. Their contributions to history are immeasurable.

“We have such wonderful legends in this city, the fact that they have to die for the recognition to come, God, it hurts. We need to appreciate them while they are alive,” says Lipkin.