Blues Fest will never be the same.
http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/m ... 09.articleKoko Taylor, Chicago’s long-reigning Queen of the Blues, died Wednesday afternoon at age 80, the result of complications from surgery on May 19 to correct a gastrointestinal bleed.
Alligator Records, Ms. Taylor’s Chicago-based label since the early 1970s, reported her death Wednesday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where label founder Bruce Iglauer had been monitoring her condition.
Ms. Taylor had most recently performed May 7 at the Blues Music Awards ceremony in Memphis, Tenn., where she received her 29th Blues Music Award (formerly the W.C. Handys), more than any other artist.