Jean Knight backstage as part of Tipitina's Foundation's 11th Annual Instruments A Comin' on April 30, 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Photo: Getty Images
If you are going to be known for one song, make it a good one ... and Jean Knight’s big hit, 1971’s Mr Big Stuff, was a good one. The New Orleans-born soul singer’s big smash reached No 1 on Billboard’s R&B chart and No 2 on the Billboard 200 pop chart: she earned a Grammy nomination that year for best female R&B vocal performance, and the single helped make her Stax Records’ top-selling female artist. A full-on funk assault on male privilege, it captured the essence of its time and proved impossible for Knight to replicate, although she went on to record several more albums and also formed her own record label, Comstar. A Louisiana Music Hall of Fame inductee and regular performer at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festival, Knight was also a healthcare worker for many years. She died on November 22, aged 80. — Agencies
