Lillian Offitt
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Lillian Etta Offitt (November 4, 1938 – February 27, 2020) was an American
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
and R&B singer.


Biography

Born in
Gallatin, Tennessee Gallatin is a city in and the county seat of Sumner County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 30,278 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 census and 44,431 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Named for United States Secre ...
in 1938 (or 1937), she studied at
Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...
, and visited the offices of
Nashboro Records Nashboro Records was an American gospel label principally active in the 1950s and 1960s. History Nashboro was founded in Nashville, Tennessee by Ernie Lafayette Young (1892-1977), who was the owner of a record store, Ernie's Record Mart, and sponso ...
in the hope of making a
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
record. The label owner, Ernie Young, suggested she record secular music instead, and her first record, "Miss You So", was issued on its subsidiary Excello label in 1957. It rose to number 8 on the ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''
R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
, and she turned professional, making appearances in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
and, later in the year, touring with
Lowell Fulson Lowell Fulson (March 31, 1921March 7, 1999) was an American blues guitarist and songwriter, in the West Coast blues tradition. He also recorded for contractual reasons as Lowell Fullsom and Lowell Fulsom. After T-Bone Walker, he was the most i ...
,
Johnny "Guitar" Watson John Watson Jr. (February 3, 1935 – May 17, 1996), often known professionally as Johnny "Guitar" Watson, was an American musician. A flamboyant showman and electric guitarist in the style of T-Bone Walker, his recording career spanned 40 year ...
and others. She moved to live in Chicago, where she performed in
nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...
s and continued to release records, but with diminishing success. Biography, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved 10 October 2016

Retrieved 10 October 2016
In 1959 she joined
Earl Hooker Earl Zebedee Hooker (January 15, 1930 – April 21, 1970) was a Chicago blues guitarist known for his slide guitar playing. Considered a "musician's musician", he performed with blues artists such as Sonny Boy Williamson II, Junior Wells, and ...
's band as a featured vocalist, and signed for
Chief Records Chief Records, together with its Profile and Age subsidiaries, was an independent record label that operated from 1957 to 1964. Best known for its recordings of Chicago blues artists Elmore James, Junior Wells, Magic Sam, and Earl Hooker, the lab ...
in Chicago. Her recording of "Will My Man Be Home Tonight?", featuring Hooker on guitar, became a regional hit but failed to make the national charts. Follow-up records again failed to be commercially successful, and she retired from music in the early 1960s to raise a family, being replaced on an intended American Folk Blues Festival tour of Europe by
Sugar Pie DeSanto Peylia Marsema Balinton (October 16, 1935 – December 20, 2024), known professionally as Sugar Pie DeSanto, was an American R&B singer and dancer, whose career in music flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. Early life DeSanto was born on October ...
. Her last reported performance was in 1974, in
St. Joseph, Michigan St. Joseph, colloquially known as St. Joe, is a city and the county seat of Berrien County, Michigan. It was incorporated as a village in 1834 and as a city in 1891. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 7,856. It lies on the shore ...
. Offitt continued to live in
Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River (Wisconsin), Root River, south of Milwaukee and north of Chicago. It is the List ...
, working outside the music business and raising her family. She died on February 27, 2020, aged 81.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Offitt, Lillian 1938 births 2020 deaths 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers American rhythm and blues singers People from Gallatin, Tennessee 21st-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American women