CHICAGO, June 13 (UPI) -- Friends and loved ones of Koko Taylor spoke at the late blues singer's funeral in Chicago regarding her numerous life accomplishments.
The Chicago Tribune said Saturday that nearly 1,000 people gathered at Chicago's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Headquarters to remember Taylor following the singer's death of complications of gastrointestinal surgery on June 3.
"Koko Taylor's life was a triumph," Alligator Records founder Bruce Iglauer, a friend of the 80-year-old singer, said at Friday's funeral, "a triumph over poverty, over lack of education, over racism. A triumph over all the odds."
Taylor's body was available for open viewing in Chicago for two days on the eve of this weekend's Chicago Blues Festival. At least one person remembering the late singer felt it was appropriate for Taylor's funeral to occur around the annual music festival.
"She's royalty," singer Jeff Dale told the Tribune of the "Love You Like a Woman" singer. "They'll be asking who's the next Koko Taylor. There isn't anybody. You only get one."
