- Known for her iconic 1965 hit "Wang Dang Doodle".
- Her nickname "Koko" came from her chocolate obsession.
- A sharecropper's daughter who was orphaned at age 11.
- Although her father encouraged her to sing only gospel music, she and her siblings would sneak out into the cotton fields with their homemade instruments and play the blues. One brother accompanied on a guitar made out of bailing wire and nails, and another brother on a fife made out of a corncob.
- When she moved to Chicago's South Side, she found work as a cleaning woman for a wealthy family. At night and on weekends she and her first husband frequented Chicago's clubs, until the musicians allowed her to join them on the bandstand.
- Her career stretched more than five decades, for which she was nominated for a Grammy seven times.
- Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1997. Her recording of "Wang Dang Doodle" was inducted into the hall in 1995 in the category Classics of Blues Recording--Single.
- Holds the record for the artist with the most number of Blues Music Awards, with 29 to her name. Also has a Grammy and an NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award.
- Was signed to a recording contract with Chess Records by Willie Dixon in 1964.
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