Bonnie Lee

Bonnie Lee stood as a enduring presence within Chicago’s modern blues landscape and ranked among the final connections to its postwar golden era. Born Jessie Lee Frealls on June 11, 1931, in Bunkie, LA, she spent her formative years in Beaumont, TX, where piano lessons and participation in her church choir shaped her early musical foundation. Gospel performer Lillian Ginn, impressed by the young singer, offered her a spot on tour, yet Lee’s mother withheld consent. During adolescence she nevertheless joined the Famous Georgia Minstrels for Southern travels, forming friendships with blues icons Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and Big Mama Thornton. In 1958 she moved to Chicago by catching a lift with a delivery van driver and took up residence in her aunt’s West Side apartment. After years of uncredited work as a vocalist and dancer, Lee recorded her first single, “Sad and Evil Woman,” for J. Mayo Williams’ Ebony label in 1960; at Williams’ direction the release appeared under the name Bonnie “Bombshell” Lane, a billing she strongly disliked. The record achieved little success, prompting her to resume performances across Chicago’s jazz and blues venues, where she cultivated a commanding style both grounded and electrifying. Midway through the decade family responsibilities led her to step away from music, yet she returned in 1967 alongside the legendary pianist Sunnyland Slim, a longtime confederate of Muddy Waters. She frequently opened his shows in subsequent years and earned acclaim on the North Side circuit through steady engagements at Wise Fools, B.L.U.E.S., and Blue Chicago. During the late ’70s she also issued several singles on Slim’s Airway imprint. A decade-long partnership with bassist Willie Kent yielded the 1995 Delmark LP Sweetheart of the Blues and the 1998 Wolf Records collection I’m Good, along with appearances on numerous anthologies, notably Women of Blue Chicago and Chicago’s Finest Blues Ladies. Persistent health concerns marked the final decades of her life, and she passed away on September 7, 2006, at age 75.