Koko Taylor was born and raised on a sharecropper's farm in Memphis, Tennessee. She developed her love for music from a mixture of songs she heard in church and songs she heard on B.B. King's radio show. Even though she was encouraged by her father to sing only gospel music, Koko and her siblings would sneak out back with their homemade instruments and play the blues. With one brother on a guitar made out of bailing wire and nails and one brother on a fife made out of a corncob, Koko began her career as a blueswoman.

As a youngster, Koko listened to as many blues artists as she could. Big Mama Thornton and Bessie Smith were particular influences, as were Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson. She would play their records over and over again. Although she loved to sing, she never dreamed of joining their ranks.

When she was 18, Koko and her soon-to-be husband, the late Robert "Pops" Taylor, moved to Chicago to look for work. The couple set up house on the city's South Side, the cradle of the rough-edged sound of Chicago blues. Taylor found work cleaning house for a wealthy couple in the ritzy northern suburbs. At night and on weekends, Koko and Pops would visit the various clubs, where they would hear singers like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Magic Sam, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. It wasn't long before Taylor was sitting in with the various bands on a regular basis.

Taylor's big break came in 1962. After a particularly fiery performance, arranger/composer Willie Dixon approached her. Much to Koko's astonishment, he told her, "My God, I never heard a woman sing the blues like you sing the blues. There are lots of men singing the blues today, but not enough women. That's what the world needs today, a woman with a voice like yours to sing the blues." Dixon got Koko a Chess recording contract and produced several singles for her, including the million-selling 1965 hit, "Wang Dang Doodle," that firmly established Koko as the world's number one female blues talent.

In 1972, Koko formed her own band, The Blues Machine. In 1975, after Chess closed its doors, Koko found a home with the city's newest blues label, Alligator Records. She recorded I GOT WHAT IT TAKES (AL 4706), which earned her a Grammy nomination. Since 1975, Koko's recorded six more albums for Alligator. THE EARTHSHAKER (AL 4711), FROM THE HEART OF A WOMAN (AL 4724), QUEEN OF THE BLUES (AL 4740), LIVE FROM CHICAGO -- AN AUDIENCE WITH THE QUEEN (AL 4754), JUMP FOR JOY (AL 4784) and FORCE OF NATURE (AL 4817). She also appears on BLUES DELUXE (XRT 9301), THE ALLIGATOR RECORDS 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR (AL 107/8) and THE ALLIGATOR RECORDS CHRISTMAS COLLECTION (XMAS 9201). Other albums featuring Koko include B.B. King's new MCA release BLUES SUMMIT, Grammy-winner BLUES EXPLOSION (Atlantic), Paul Shaffer's COAST TO COAST (Capitol), and BASIC SOUL and KOKO TAYLOR on the famed Chess label.

Over the course of her illustrious 30-year career, Taylor has received just about every award the blues world has to offer and then some. She recently won her 14th W.C. Handy Award (the Grammy of the blues community), more than any other female blues artist. She's received Grammy nominations for six of her last seven Alligator recordings, and won a Grammy in 1984. One of Koko's favorite honors came on March 3, 1993. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley honored Taylor with a "Legend of the Year" Award, and declared the day "Koko Taylor Day" throughout Chicago. "This," according to Koko, "was something else that I was really honored to have happen to me."

And the list of achievements continues. Taylor made her silver screen debut as a lounge singer in the David Lynch (Blue Velvet) film, Wild At Heart. She performed at a Presidential inaugural event which featured nearly two dozen of the world's most prominent blues and r&b artists. And she made an appearance in front of an audience of four million people on The David Letterman Show. She's also been featured on CBS-TV's This Morning and Nightwatch, National Public Radio's All Things Considered and Crossroads, as well as on the Associated Press and United Press International newswires and in People Magazine and Entertainment Weekly. Most recently, she made a TV appearance on the Fox-TV police drama, New York Undercover, playing herself.

Taylor continues to play over 200 concerts a year. In 1993, she toured the United States with B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Lonnie Brooks and Junior Wells. When the Chicago Tribune referred to her as "the hardest working lady in show business today," they had it right on the money. Despite her international reputation, she still isn't ready to rest on her laurels. "Everything I got," says Koko, "I worked for. And I still have a long ways to go." FORCE OF NATURE is not only the title of Taylor's latest album, it is an apt description of the energy and power that is the "Queen of the Blues."

It's not easy being a woman succeeding in the male-dominated blues world, but Koko Taylor has done just that. She's taken her music from the tiny clubs on the South Side of Chicago to giant festivals around the world. She's appeared on national television numerous times and has even been the subject of a PBS documentary. Through good times and personal hardships, Koko Taylor has remained a steady force in the blues. "It's a challenge," she says. "It's tough being out here doing what I'm doing in what they call a man's world. It's not every woman that can hang in there and do what I am doing today." Indeed, and that's why there is just one "Queen of the Blues."