Laura Lee Perkins has died on April 6 at the age of 78.
Perkins was born in Killarney, WV as Alice Faye Perkins and started singing from an early age in school and church.
In 1957, she move to the Cleveland, OH area and, one night, went with friends to try and meet DJ Jeff Baxter at WEOL in Elyria (some biographies attribute this story to Bill Randle of WERE). While waiting, she found a room with a piano and started playing and singing. Baxter heard her and recorded Perkins in the studio, sending the demos to Imperial and Sun Records who both offered contracts.
Perkins signed with Imperial and recorded her first sides in California in February of 1958, releasing “Kiss Me Baby” as her debut single. Laura Lee returned to Ohio where she started playing regularly in clubs. She relocated to Detroit in 1959 where she continued to develop her career.
While Perkins never gained mainstream success, she had a successful career and, even after marrying in 1963, continued to write music along with writing and singing jingles for radio and TV.
In 2006, Perkins finally recorded her first album, I’m Back and Here We Go!.
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