- Born
- Died
- Birth nameCora Walton
- Nicknames
- Queen of the Chicago Blues
- Queen of the Blues
- Little Cocoa
- KoKo Taylor was born on September 28, 1928 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. She was an actress, known for Blues Brothers 2000 (1998), Wild at Heart (1990) and Adventures in Babysitting (1987). She was married to Hay Harris and Robert 'Pops' Taylor. She died on June 3, 2009 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
- SpousesHay Harris(1996 - June 3, 2009) (her death)Robert 'Pops' Taylor(1953 - 1989) (his death, 1 child)
- ChildrenJoyce Threatt
- Known for her iconic 1965 hit "Wang Dang Doodle".
- Her nickname "Koko" came from her chocolate obsession.
- A sharecropper's daughter who was orphaned at age 11.
- Although her father encouraged her to sing only gospel music, she and her siblings would sneak out into the cotton fields with their homemade instruments and play the blues. One brother accompanied on a guitar made out of bailing wire and nails, and another brother on a fife made out of a corncob.
- When she moved to Chicago's South Side, she found work as a cleaning woman for a wealthy family. At night and on weekends she and her first husband frequented Chicago's clubs, until the musicians allowed her to join them on the bandstand.
- I used to listen to the radio, and when I was about 18 years old, B.B. King was a disc jockey and he had a radio program, 15 minutes a day, over in West Memphis, Arkansas and he would play the blues. I would hear different records and things by Muddy Waters, Bessie Smith, Memphis Minnie, Sonny Boy Williamson I and all these people, you know, which I just loved. [1990]
- I was so glad to get out of the cotton patch and stop pickin' cotton, I wouldn't of cared who come by and said, 'I'll take you to Chicago.'
- Blues is my life. It's a true feeling that comes from the heart, not something that just comes out of my mouth. Blues is what I love, and blues is what I always do.
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