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Valerie Wellington (1959-1993)

The Power of Wellington's Voice

Blues singer and actress, Valerie Wellington, was born on November 14, 1959 in Chicago, Illinois. Valerie Eileen Hall trained as an opera singer at Chicago's American Conservatory of Music for three years. She learned piano as a youngster and played with local blues man, Lee 'Shot' Williams, at the age of 15. In 1982, Valerie took the Chicago blues scene by surprise, and with high impact, as a singer, not forgoing her classical training as an opera singer as much as using it to enhance her work in the blues. As a blueswoman, she fit right in, not only becoming a regular in the blues clubs, but also compiling an impressive theatrical resume for her portrayals of Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith - women who, like opera singers, learned to project their voices without microphones. Big Maybelle and Big Mama Thornton provided additional inspiration, and the influence of Koko Taylor was also evident in Wellington's blues approach, which combined classic vaudeville-era blues with the evolving hard-driving, electrified sound of Chicago blues in the 1980s. Her power-packed voice was heard on only a few record releases, but was featured frequently in radio and television commercials. On October 1 1984, Valerie's debut album, Million Dollar Secret, was released on the Rooster label, and received 'rave' reviews from critics, all of whom commented on the power of Wellington's voice. In 1987, she contributed one track to Alligator Records' The New Bluebloods, an anthology of younger Chicago blues artists. Valerie also appeared in the 1989 MGM motion picture production of Great Balls of Fire, a biography of Jerry Lee Lewis, starring Dennis Quaid, Winona Ryder and Alec Baldwin. She performed a blues arrangement of Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On in her portrayal of Big Maybelle in the pre-rock 'n' roll era. Sadly and shockingly, Valerie Wellington died of a brain aneurysm at the age of 33, on January 2, 1993, in a Maywood, Illinois hospital, immediately west of Chicago. Valerie is interred at Restvale Cemetery in Worth, Illinois, just southwest of Chicago. (quoted from Valerie Wellington Tribute Page at myspace.com.)

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