Koko Taylor: The Unstoppable Queen of the Blues

Koko Taylor was the most dominant female voice in Chicago blues for nearly half a century. Born Cora Ann Walton on September 28, 1928, near Memphis, Tennessee, she arrived in Chicago with almost nothing and built a career that earned her 29 W.C. Handy/Blues Music Awards, a Grammy, and the undisputed title “Queen of the Blues.” Her raw, powerful vocals and unwavering commitment to traditional Chicago blues made her one of the genre’s most important artists — male or female.

Taylor’s signature song, “Wang Dang Doodle,” written by Willie Dixon and originally recorded by Howlin’ Wolf, sold over a million copies and became Chess Records’ last major hit. Yet that single only marked the beginning. Over four decades of recording and relentless touring, Taylor proved that the blues could still fill rooms and move audiences long after the genre had faded from mainstream popularity. She did it on her own terms, never softening her style or chasing trends.

From Memphis Cotton Fields to Chicago’s South Side

Cora Ann Walton was born on a sharecropper’s farm in Bartlett, Tennessee, just outside Memphis. Her father, William Walton, worked the cotton fields, and the family lived without electricity or running water. Despite the hardship, music was a constant in the household. Her oldest brother fashioned a guitar from hay baling wire, while a younger brother carved a harmonica from a corncob. Young Cora sang along with whatever instruments they could build.

The family also had a radio, and that connection to the outside world shaped Taylor’s musical education. She listened closely to Rufus Thomas broadcasting out of Memphis and to B.B. King, who at the time was working as a disc jockey in West Memphis, Arkansas. Through those broadcasts, she heard Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, and other artists who would later become her peers and inspirations. She also absorbed the vocal power of Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie, both of whom demonstrated that women could command the blues with authority.

Tragedy came early. Taylor’s mother, Annie Mae, died when Koko was just four years old. Her father passed away by the time she was eleven. Orphaned and with limited options, she and her siblings continued picking cotton to survive. She left school after the sixth grade and eventually moved to Memphis, where she cleaned houses to get by. The nickname “Koko” followed her from childhood — given by her family because of her love of chocolate.

In 1952, Taylor left Tennessee for good. She and Robert “Pops” Taylor, a truck driver she had met in Memphis, headed north to Chicago. By her own account, they arrived with thirty-five cents and a box of Ritz crackers. The couple married in Chicago that same year, and Pops found work at a meatpacking plant while Koko took domestic cleaning jobs in the city’s wealthy northern suburbs for five dollars a day.

Chicago’s South Side and West Side were alive with blues in the early 1950s, and the Taylors spent their evenings in the clubs. Pops played guitar, and together they haunted the same venues where Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Elmore James, and Magic Sam performed regularly. Before long, Koko began sitting in with bands — at first nervously, then with growing confidence. The first songs she ever performed on stage were Tina Turner’s “I Idolize You” and Brook Benton’s “Make Me Feel Good, Kiddio,” the only two songs she knew at the time. She learned fast.

Willie Dixon, Chess Records, and “Wang Dang Doodle”

Taylor spent the better part of a decade honing her craft in Chicago’s clubs before her break came. In 1962, the legendary songwriter, producer, and bassist Willie Dixon heard her singing at a South Side club and recognized something special in her voice. Dixon had shaped the sound of Chicago blues through his work with Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and Little Walter at Chess Records, and he saw in Taylor a raw vocal talent that could carry the tradition forward.

Dixon became Taylor’s mentor and producer. He brought her to Leonard Chess at Chess Records, and Chess told Dixon to get her ready for recording immediately. Her first single, “What Kind of Man Is This,” was released on the USA label in 1963. It made little commercial impact, but it was enough to convince Dixon and Chess to keep working with her.

In December 1965, Dixon produced Taylor’s recording of his composition “Wang Dang Doodle” for Checker Records, a Chess subsidiary. The song had originally been recorded by Howlin’ Wolf five years earlier, but Taylor’s version was something else entirely. Where Wolf’s take was menacing and restrained, Taylor attacked the song with a ferocious energy that made it unmistakably hers. Her growling, full-throated delivery turned the song into a celebration — an invitation to a party where the good times wouldn’t stop.

Released in 1966, “Wang Dang Doodle” climbed to number four on the Billboard R&B chart and reached number 58 on the pop chart. It sold over a million copies and became the last major hit that Chess Records would produce. The song established Taylor as a force in the blues world and gave her a signature tune she would perform for the rest of her career.

During her years at Chess, Taylor recorded with some of the finest musicians in Chicago blues. Her sessions featured Buddy Guy on guitar, Big Walter Horton on harmonica, and other first-call players from the Chess roster. She also performed alongside Little Walter and Hound Dog Taylor at the 1967 American Folk Blues Festival, a touring showcase that introduced American blues to European audiences. These collaborations placed Taylor firmly in the company of the genre’s elite, and she more than held her own.

Taylor remained at Chess through the late 1960s and into the early 1970s, recording a steady stream of singles and two albums under Dixon’s production. Songs like “Don’t Mess with the Messer,” “Insane Asylum,” and “Fire” showcased her range within the Chicago blues format, but none achieved the crossover success of “Wang Dang Doodle.” The timing worked against her. By the mid-1960s, soul music was overtaking the blues with Black audiences, and the younger generation was looking toward artists like James Brown and Aretha Franklin. Taylor had arrived on the national scene just as the commercial window for traditional blues was closing.

Still, she kept working. She toured the United States throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, building a reputation as a tireless live performer who could win over any crowd. Her live shows demonstrated something that studio recordings only hinted at — the sheer physical force of her voice and personality in a room. Even as record sales slowed, Taylor was filling clubs and earning loyal fans one show at a time.

When Chess Records folded in the mid-1970s, Taylor found herself without a label — but far from finished.

The Alligator Records Years

Taylor’s career entered its most productive and celebrated phase when she signed with Alligator Records in 1975. Founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971, Alligator was a small Chicago label dedicated to authentic blues, and the partnership between Taylor and Alligator would last 34 years and define them both.

In 1972, between leaving Chess and joining Alligator, Taylor had formed her own backing band, the Blues Machine. This gave her full control over her live sound and freed her from dependence on session musicians. With the Blues Machine behind her, she became one of the hardest-working live acts in blues, touring relentlessly across the United States and eventually around the world.

Her first Alligator album, I Got What It Takes (1975), announced that Taylor had not only survived the lean years but had grown as an artist. The album showcased her powerful vocals against tight, driving arrangements that honored Chicago blues tradition while sounding fresh and immediate. Taylor herself later said that her career truly started when she joined Alligator.

Over the next three decades, Taylor recorded nine albums for the label. Eight of those received Grammy nominations, and the awards piled up steadily. She won the Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Recording in 1985 for her appearance on Blues Explosion, a collaborative album that also featured Stevie Ray Vaughan. Between 1980 and 2009, she collected 29 W.C. Handy/Blues Music Awards across multiple categories, including Contemporary Female Artist of the Year, Traditional Female Artist of the Year, Vocalist of the Year, and Entertainer of the Year. No other female blues artist came close to that tally.

Personal tragedy struck in 1988 when Taylor’s tour bus went over a cliff in Tennessee, leaving her severely injured. She endured a long and difficult recovery. Then, in March 1989, her husband and longtime companion Pops Taylor died from injuries sustained in a car accident. The losses were devastating, but Taylor returned to performing as soon as she was physically able. She later married Hays Harris in 1996 and continued her demanding tour schedule.

Taylor’s commercial appeal and critical respect only grew as she aged. She appeared in the films Wild at Heart (1990) and Blues Brothers 2000 (1998), bringing her larger-than-life presence to the screen. In 1994, she opened her own blues club on Division Street in Chicago, which later relocated to Wabash Avenue in the South Loop. She performed on Late Night with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and even appeared as an animated bear version of herself on the children’s television show Arthur.

Her final studio album, Old School (2007), featured vocals as commanding and authoritative as anything she had recorded in her prime. Critics noted that age had done nothing to diminish her power — if anything, the years had deepened the grit and emotional weight of her voice.

Musical Style and Stage Presence

Koko Taylor’s voice was her instrument, and it was unlike anything else in the blues. Deep, gravelly, and enormously powerful, it could shake a room without amplification and cut through any band. She didn’t possess the refined technique of a jazz singer or the smooth delivery of a soul vocalist. What she had was something more primal — a raw, unpolished sound that communicated directly and honestly.

Her style was rooted firmly in traditional Chicago blues. She drew from the same well as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, favoring driving rhythms, straightforward song structures, and lyrics that dealt with real life — love, heartbreak, independence, and good times. She cited Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie as early inspirations, and her vocal approach carried forward the tradition of women in the blues who refused to be delicate or deferential.

On stage, Taylor was a commanding and generous performer. She dressed in sequined gowns and brought an energy that belied her age, working the crowd with the confidence of someone who had been doing it for decades. Her live shows were communal events — she talked to the audience, encouraged dancing, and made every venue feel like a Chicago juke joint regardless of its size. She understood that the blues was as much about the connection between performer and audience as it was about the music itself.

What set Taylor apart from many of her contemporaries was her refusal to compromise. As blues declined in commercial popularity during the 1970s and 1980s, some artists softened their sound or incorporated pop and rock elements to attract wider audiences. Taylor never did. She sang traditional Chicago blues because it was the only music that felt authentic to her. As she told interviewers on multiple occasions, she was “about the only woman out there singing the old, traditional Mississippi blues,” and she saw no reason to change.

This commitment to tradition was not stubbornness but conviction. Taylor believed in the power of the blues to move people, and she proved it night after night in clubs, theaters, and festival stages around the world. By the 2000s, her audiences had grown larger than ever, with crowds of 500 to 1,000 becoming routine at her performances. She told the NEA that fans would stand and cheer when she walked on stage, shouting “I love you, Koko” before she even sang a note. That kind of devotion doesn’t come from following trends. It comes from being real, and Koko Taylor was as real as the blues gets.

Legacy and Honors

Koko Taylor’s impact on the blues extends well beyond her recordings and performances. She was the most prominent and successful female blues artist of her generation, and she opened doors for every woman who followed her into the genre. Her success demonstrated that a woman could not only survive but dominate in the male-heavy world of Chicago blues.

The honors she received reflected that influence. Taylor was inducted into the Blues Foundation’s Hall of Fame in 1997. In 2004, she received the NEA National Heritage Fellowship, one of the highest honors the United States bestows on traditional artists. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley declared March 3, 1993, “Koko Taylor Day” throughout the city and named her “Legend of the Year.” The Blues Foundation awarded her its Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999, and Chicago Magazine named her “Chicagoan of the Year” in 1998.

Perhaps the most significant posthumous recognition came in 2023, when her recording of “Wang Dang Doodle” was added to the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress, recognizing it as culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant. NPR produced a lengthy profile of the song featuring commentary from Bonnie Raitt, Dan Aykroyd, and Shemekia Copeland. The Blues Music Awards also honor Taylor’s legacy directly — the award for Traditional Blues Female is officially named the “Koko Taylor Award.”

Taylor’s influence on younger artists was direct and personal. Shemekia Copeland, who became one of the leading female blues vocalists of the 21st century, cited Taylor as a primary inspiration and performed with her on multiple occasions. Taylor’s 2000 album Royal Blue featured collaborations with younger musicians including Keb’ Mo’ and Copeland, bridging generations within the genre.

Koko Taylor died on June 3, 2009, in Chicago, Illinois. She was 80 years old. Less than a month before her death, she had performed “Wang Dang Doodle” at the 30th Blues Music Awards — still powerful, still commanding, still the Queen.

Her passing was felt deeply across the blues community and beyond. Rolling Stone called her “the greatest blues singer of her generation.” Bruce Iglauer, founder of Alligator Records and her label partner for over three decades, described her as “the essence of what a blues musician should be.” More than 4,000 people attended her funeral in Chicago, a testament to the depth of connection she had built with audiences over nearly five decades of performing.

Taylor’s legacy endures in her recordings, in the award that bears her name, and in every female blues artist who steps onto a stage knowing that a woman from a Tennessee cotton farm proved it could be done. In a genre where careers are often short and recognition comes late, Koko Taylor stands as proof that talent, determination, and an unshakeable commitment to authenticity can sustain a life in the blues.

Essential Listening

For those discovering Koko Taylor’s music, these recordings capture the full range of her talent and career.

Essential Albums

• I Got What It Takes (Alligator, 1975) — Her Alligator debut and a statement of intent. Tight Chicago blues with Taylor’s vocals front and center, establishing the template for her next three decades.
• The Earthshaker (Alligator, 1978) — One of her strongest studio albums, featuring driving arrangements and some of her most forceful vocal performances. The title track became a fan favorite.
• Queen of the Blues (Alligator, 1985) — The album that solidified her title. Grammy-nominated and packed with the gritty, no-compromise blues that defined her Alligator years.
• Force of Nature (Alligator, 1993) — A mature, confident album that won W.C. Handy Awards and showed Taylor at the height of her powers during the 1990s blues revival.
• Old School (Alligator, 2007) — Her final studio album and a fitting capstone. The vocals are as raw and powerful as ever, proving that Taylor lost nothing with age.

Essential Songs

• “Wang Dang Doodle” — Her signature song and Chess Records’ last major hit. The million-selling single that made her a household name in the blues world.
• “I’m a Woman” — A fierce declaration of independence that became one of her most requested live songs. Taylor’s vocal authority makes every word hit hard.
• “Hey Bartender” — A raucous good-time blues that showcases her ability to turn any room into a party.
• “I’d Rather Go Blind” — Originally an Etta James classic, Taylor’s live renditions brought a rawer, more gut-wrenching intensity to the song.
• “Voodoo Woman” — Dark, driving Chicago blues that highlights the menacing side of Taylor’s vocal range.
• “Let the Good Times Roll” — A crowd-pleasing anthem that captured the joyful energy of her live performances.
• “What Kind of Man Is This” — Her first recording, produced by Willie Dixon. A glimpse of the powerhouse vocalist who was just getting started.