Alberta Adams died on Christmas day at the age of 97.
Adams, one of the greatest blues singers from the Detroit area, was born in Indianapolis but her family soon moved to Detroit where she was raised. She moved out on her own at the age of 14, first performing as a tap dancer and, later, as a singer. Alberta mainly worked in the Hasting Street area entertainment venues along with contemporaries such as John Lee Hooker, Eddie Kirkland and Big Maceo.
In the early-50’s, she was signed to Chess Records where she recorded with Red Saunders. Adams toured with many of the greats of the era including Tiny Bradshaw, as a member of his group the Bluesettes, Louis Jordan, T-Bone Walker, Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton. She later moved to Savoy Records where she released Say Baby Say with the T.J. Fowler Band.
After taking some time away from music, she once again started performing around Detroit. An appearance by one of her 50’s recordings on the 1997 album Blues Across America led to a new interest in her career and she signed with Cannonball Records where she released Born With the Blues (1999) and Say Baby Say (2000). Instead of relying on older material, Adams wrote most of the songs on both albums.
In 2004, she moved to Eastlawn Records, owned by her drummer and manager R.J. Spangler, for I’m On the Move. She followed with the 2006 EP Queen of the Blues and the 2008 album Detroit is My Home.
Alberta continued to perform, sometimes from a wheelchair, right up until near the time of her passing.
Adams is survived by her daughter, nine grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.
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