{{short description|American singer}}
'''Lucille Spann''' (June 23, 1938 – August 2, 1994),<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://enw.thedeadrockstarsclub.com/1995.html|title=The Dead Rock Stars Club 1994 - 1995|website=Enw.thedeadrockstarsclub.com|access-date=6 October 2018}}</ref> was an American blues singer who participated in the Chicago Blues community in the 1960s and 1970s.
==Life and works== Lucille Spann was born '''Mahalia Lucille Jenkins''' in Bolton, Mississippi, the ninth child of Gertrude and Sherman Jenkins.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="LarkinBlues">{{cite book|title=The Guinness Who's Who of Blues|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1995|edition=Second|isbn=0-85112-673-1|page=331}}</ref><ref name="CBIG">''Cry Before I Go'' - sleeve notes, 1974</ref> Her mother died before she was five, and she was brought up by her father and her sisters. She started out singing gospel music, and was banned from listening to the blues. Nevertheless, she developed a liking for Bessie Smith, T-Bone Walker and other blues singers.<ref name="CBIG"/> She moved to Chicago in her teens, where she met Otis Spann whilst working as a barmaid.<ref name="CBIG"/> Soon she started working with him musically and later married him in 1969.<ref name="All Music">{{cite web|title=Lucille Spann|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/lucille-spann-mn0001201279|website=All Music|publisher=All Media Network|access-date=9 April 2016}}</ref>
She became one of the musicians who recorded with Spivey Records alongside Otis, Muddy Waters, Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, Sammy Lawhorn, Paul Oscher, Pee Wee Madison, S. P. Leary and Willie Smith.<ref name="Wirz">{{cite web|last1=Wirz|first1=Stefan|title=Lucille Spann Discography|url=http://www.wirz.de/music/spanlfrm.htm|website=American Music|publisher=Stefan Wirz|access-date=10 April 2016}}</ref>
After Otis Spann's death in 1970, she continued singing, making recordings with Mighty Joe Young. She also participated in a festival dedicated to Otis Spann on September 10, 1972, featuring John Sinclair, Sun Ra, Freddie King, Luther Allison, Johnny Shines, Otis Rush and Sippie Wallace.<ref name="Wirz"/>
She released two singles in 1972, "Womans Lib" b/w "What You Do To Your Woman", and "Country Girl Returns" (parts 1 and 2). She also released an album ''Cry Before I Go'' in 1974.<ref name="Wirz"/>
Spann died in August 1994 in Vicksburg, Mississippi, at the age of 56.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ancientfaces.com/person/lucille-spann/61688446|title=Lucille Spann|website=Ancientfaces.ocm|access-date=6 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZNfAQAAQBAJ&q=%22Lucille+Spann%22.+%22August+2%2C+1994%22&pg=PA232|title=Blues: A Regional Experience|first1=Bob L.|last1=Eagle|first2=Eric S.|last2=LeBlanc|page=232|date=1 May 2013|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9780313344244|access-date=6 October 2018|via=Google Books}}</ref> In 2017 the Killer Blues Headstone Project placed the headstone for Lucille Spann at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Vicksburg.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Headstones Placed|url=https://killerblues.net/headstones/|access-date=2025-11-23|website=Killerblues.net|language=en-US}}</ref>
==Discography== *''Cry Before I Go'' (BluesWay, 1974) '''With Otis Spann''' *''The Bottom of the Blues'' (BluesWay, 1968) *''Cryin' Time'' (Vanguard, 1969)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.wirz.de/music/spannluc.htm Lucille Spann discography] *[https://mississippigravestones.org/view.php?id=24255 Gravestone image]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Spann, Lucille}} Category:1938 births Category:1994 deaths Category:20th-century American singers Category:20th-century African-American women singers Category:American blues singers Category:People from Bolton, Mississippi Category:20th-century American women singers
{{US-blues-musician-stub}} {{US-singer-stub}}