YEAR
1991
INDUCTED BY
Chaka Khan
CATEGORY
Performers
A rock and roll diva with an irresistible belt and sultry R&B edge.
Her fiery fusion of blues, jazz and R&B showcased her alluring vocals and set the stage for the rock and roll surge of the Fifties. A versatile vocalist, LaVern Baker proved capable of melding blues, jazz and R&B styles in a way that made possible the emergence of a new idiom: rock and roll.
LaVern Baker
HALL OF FAME
ESSAY
By Leo Sacks
LaVern Baker down in her chesty contralto for the phrase that made her fabulous fill on “Tweedlee Dee” so memorable in 1954: “Hompy-om-bom-bom!”
That warmth of spirit, nurtured by the Baptist church, brought out the best in the robust Baker— one of the first women to capture the essence of rock & roll and, as the kids would say, a real gone gal.
