Sweet Georgia Brown, Queen of the Blues was born on March 22, 1947, in South Carolina to Emma and Johnny Mack. She passed away peacefully on September 30, 2022 at the age of 75, surrounded by her family.
With the untimely death of her mother Emma, Georgia was brought to New York and raised by her Aunt Edith Moore. She was enrolled in the Victoria School of Music in Harlem studying tap dance and receiving vocal training. At 9 years old, Georgia made her stage debut at Carnegie Hall in the musical “Alice in Wonderland” as a tap dancer. Growing up in Westbury, NY she attended Westbury Senior High School, graduating in 1965. After high school she attended Tennessee A&I State University where she pursued a degree in Music.
Georgia and her band, The Blues Crusaders (Stew, Greg, and Warren, along with special guests), have toured the world and performed in countless venues including The Roseland Ballroom, Montreux Jazz Festival, Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Apollo Theatre and many more music festivals around the globe. They performed in countries such as France, Finland, Greece, and Italy to name a few. When Georgia and the band weren’t touring, they called Village Staples, Arthur’s Tavern and 55 Bar their home for almost two decades.
Sweet Georgia Brown was a member of the Jazz and Blues Foundation of America and one of the highlights of her career was being inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame as a Master Blues Artist in 2012. Georgia also known as “The Last of the Red Hot Mamas” will be remembered for her talent, generosity, love of people, and especially her mentoring of countless musicians and artists alike. A documentary of her life was created and aptly titled “Last of The Red Hot Mamas”.
She is preceded in death by her parents and the aunt who helped raise her, Edith Moore. Her memory will be treasured by her dear sisters Gail Miles and Renee Littlejohn; her adoring children Keysha Bell-Brown, Iysha Bell, and Najmah Ali; her favorite son-in-law Navarro Brown; her grandchildren, Ashante and Navarje; and her great grandchild Kassandra. Georgia also leaves behind to mourn a host of cousins, nieces, nephews, treasured friends, and fans from around the world.
All services will take place at the Frank E. Campbell Chapel located at 1076 Madison Avenue, NYC, NY. Viewings are scheduled on October 12th from 1pm-3pm and 5pm–8pm. The funeral service will take place on October 13th at 10am with burial following at Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx New York.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Jazz Foundation of America in memory of Sweet Georgia Brown. https://jazzfoundation.org/donate/
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