D9PJ16 MEMPHIS MINNIE (1897-1973) US Blues guitarist
On this day in 1973, legendary Blues guitarist and singer Memphis Minnie passed away at the age of 76 from a stroke at a nursing home in the Bluff City, which gave birth to her career and nickname.
Born Lizzie Douglas on June 3, 1897, Memphis Minnie grew up in Walls, Mississippi, where she learned to play the guitar and banjo by the age of 10 and eventually left home at 13 to live on Beale Street.
During her career in the Bluff City, Memphis Minnie recorded such hits as “When The Levee Breaks” in 1929, which was based on the Great Mississippi Flood and would be given new life in 1971 with the Led Zeppelin song we know today.
And despite her health declining by the 1950s, Minnie would continue to appear on the radio to encourage up-and-coming Memphis musicians before her passing in 1973.
