14 Facts About Esther Phillips

Esther Phillips died from liver and kidney failure due to long-term drug abuse in 1984.

Esther Phillips was brought up singing in church and was reluctant to enter a talent contest at a local blues club, but her sister insisted.

Esther Phillips later took the surname Phillips as her stage name, reportedly inspired by a sign at a gas station.

Esther Phillips made several hit records for Savoy with the Johnny Otis Orchestra, including "Mistrusting Blues" and "Cupid's Boogie", both of which went to number 1 that year.

Esther Phillips left Otis and the Savoy label at the end of 1950 and signed with Federal Records.

Esther Phillips recorded more than thirty sides for Federal, but only one, "Ring-a-Ding-Doo", made the charts, reaching number 8 in 1952.

Esther Phillips eventually recovered enough to launch a comeback in 1962.

Esther Phillips had other hits in the 1960s for Atlantic, such as the Jimmy Radcliffe song "Try Me", which featured a saxophone part by King Curtis, but she had no more chart-toppers.

Esther Phillips performed with the Johnny Otis Show at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1970.

Esther Phillips lost to Aretha Franklin, but Franklin presented the trophy to her, saying she should have won it instead.

Esther Phillips completed recording her final album, A Way To Say Goodbye a few months before her death; it was released by the Muse jazz label in 1986.

Esther Phillips died at UCLA Medical Center in Carson, California, in 1984, at the age of 48, from liver and kidney failure due to long-term drug abuse.

Esther Phillips was twice nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1986 and 1987, but has not yet been inducted.

In 2023 Esther Phillips was inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame.