Bonnie Lee
| Bonnie Lee | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Jessie Lee Frealls |
| Also known as | Bonnie Lee Murray Bonnie "Bombshell" Lane "Sweetheart of the Blues" |
| Born |
June 11, 1931 Bunkie, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | September 7, 2006 (aged 75) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Genres | Chicago blues, soul-blues |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | Late 1950s–2006 |
| Labels | Various |
Bonnie Lee (June 11, 1931 – September 7, 2006) was an American Chicago blues singer. Known as "The Sweetheart of the Blues", she is best remembered for her lengthy working relationships with Sunnyland Slim and Willie Kent. David Whiteis, who interviewed Lee in researching his book Chicago Blues: Portraits and Stories stated, "she was one of the last of her genre, the big-voiced woman blues singer fronting a Chicago band."
She was born Jessie Lee Frealls in Bunkie, Louisiana, and raised in Beaumont, Texas.
She learning to play the piano as a child. Her mother refused to let her join gospel singer Lillian Glinn on tour. She later toured with the Famous Georgia Minstrels, meeting both Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and Big Mama Thornton.
In 1958 she moved to Chicago and chose the stage name Bonnie Lee, working as both a dancer and singer. Two years later she signed a recording contract with J. Mayo Williams's Ebony Records. Williams insisted on billing her as Bonnie "Bombshell" Lane on her first single, "Sad and Evil Woman." She disliked the name. After the single failed to sell, she returned to Chicago jazz and blues nightclubs. She was later billed as Bonnie Lee Murray, using the surname of her husband at the time.
In 1967 Lee first appeared on a bill with the pianist Sunnyland Slim, and their working arrangement included residencies at several Chicago clubs. At the end of the 1970s, she recorded further singles, released by AIrway Records (owned by Slim Records). She suffered from health problems at that time but then enjoyed a long professional partnership with Willie Kent. Backed by Willie Kent and the Gents, ahe became a regular performer at B.L.U.E.S., a noted Chicago club, for many years. There she sang her most famous numbers, "I’m Good" and "Need Your Love So Bad."
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