Lillian Briggs (néeBiggs; June 3, 1932 – April 11, 1998) was an American rock 'n roll performer and musician.[1]
Briggs was the first woman to achieve star status at the dawn of rock 'n roll in the early 1950s; soon after embarking upon her career, as she toured Australia with Nat King Cole in early 1956, she began being billed as "The Queen of Rock and Roll"[2] during the same period that media began referring to Elvis Presley as the "King" of the new musical genre.[3]
In the early 1950s, she worked for 14 months as a laundry truck driver in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania and later as a welder to support herself and finance The Downbeats, a band she formed that drew audiences both on live radio and at public venues in the Allentown area.[6]
Career
In 1953, she joined Joy Cayler's All-Girl Orchestra as a singer and trombonist. A year later, appearing with Cayler's Orchestra at the Arcadia Ballroom in New York City, she performed a version of "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and was discovered by celebrity manager and talent scout Jack Petrill, who signed her as a preferred client, launching her solo career. Briggs toured at sock hops and nightclubs and did radio interviews, driving herself coast-to-coast from one engagement to the next in her white Cadillac convertible.
The following year, in 1954, New York City disc jockey Alan Freed asked her to appear in his New York City stage shows, which led to her being signed with Epic Records later that year.[7]
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