The Chicago Defender has just learned that blues legend Koko Taylor has died. She was 80 years old.
Taylor had been in Northwestern Memorial Hospital where she underwent a May 19 surgery to correct a gastrointestinal bleed and had not left the hospital before she died there Wednesday, officials for her record label, Alligator Records told the Defender.
Prior to her death, her doctors had expected a full recovery from the surgery. Her daughter, Joyce “Cookie” Threatt was by her side when she passed, according to Alligator Records officials.
The multi-award winning Taylor was a giant in the blues genre. She performed last month at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis where she picked up the Traditional Blues Female Blues Artist of the Year award and sang her hit song “Wang Dang Doodle.”
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