Mary Joan Okum (née Kath; October 27, 1924 – December 8, 2015), known by her performing name Bonnie Lou, was an American musical pioneer. She was one of first female rock and roll singers. She was also one of the first artists to gain crossover success from country music to rock and roll. She was the "top name" on the first country music program regularly broadcast on a national TV network.[1]
Lou was one of the first female co-hosts of a successful television talk show, and a regular musical performer on popular shows in the 1960s and 1970s. She "was a prime mover in the first days of rockabilly,"[2] and is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.[3]
Lou died from complications of dementia under hospice care in Cincinnati, Ohio, aged 91.[4][5]
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