Rockabilly bombshell
Lillian Briggs was born in 1932 and raised in Allentown, PA.
She was splitting duties playing trombone in Joy Cayler's
All-Girl Orchestra with her day job driving a laundry truck
when in 1952 she was discovered by legendary DJ Alan Freed,
who featured Briggs in a series of his New York stage shows.
Seemingly poured into her skin-tight silver and gold lamé
dresses, the singer immediately became a crowd favorite, and
in 1954 talent scout Jack Petrill helped land her a solo
contract with Epic. Briggs' punchy 1955 debut single "I Want
You to Be My Baby" went on to sell over a million copies, and
she became a staple of the variety show circuit, appearing on
Jack Paar's Tonight Show and The Steve Allen Show and
graduating to the big screen for the 1961 Jerry Lewis vehicle
The Ladies Man. However, Briggs' recording career stalled, and
a series of novelty singles -- including "Boogie Blues," "The
Teens in Jeans From New Orleans," and "Rock and Roly-Poly
Santa Claus" -- went nowhere. She also recorded for the Coral
and Sunbeam labels before retiring from music in the early
'70s. Briggs then relocated to Miami Beach, where she became a
partner in the waterfront resort Turnberry Isle; her business
dealings made her a very wealthy woman, and she lived the high
life during the decades to follow. Her many personal
connections also made her a footnote to one of the biggest
scandals of the 1980s -- Briggs regularly loaned her yacht
"Monkey Business" to various friends and contacts, and it was
aboard the ship that aspiring Presidential candidate Gary Hart
was photographed with mistress Donna Rice, bringing his
political aspirations to a swift end. Briggs died of lung
cancer in Miami on April 11, 1998. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music
Guide
Date of birth: 1937,
Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA
Date of death: 11 April 1998, Miami Beach, Florida, USA
Rockabilly bombshell
Lillian Briggs was born in 1932 and raised in Allentown, PA.
She was splitting duties playing trombone in Joy Cayler's
All-Girl Orchestra with her day job driving a laundry truck
when in 1952 she was discovered by legendary DJ Alan Freed,
who featured Briggs in a series of his New York stage shows.
Seemingly poured into her skin-tight silver and gold lamé
dresses, the singer immediately became a crowd favorite, and
in 1954 talent scout Jack Petrill helped land her a solo
contract with Epic. Briggs' punchy 1955 debut single "I Want
You to Be My Baby" went on to sell over a million copies, and
she became a staple of the variety show circuit, appearing on
Jack Paar's Tonight Show and The Steve Allen Show and
graduating to the big screen for the 1961 Jerry Lewis vehicle
The Ladies Man. However, Briggs' recording career stalled, and
a series of novelty singles -- including "Boogie Blues," "The
Teens in Jeans From New Orleans," and "Rock and Roly-Poly
Santa Claus" -- went nowhere. She also recorded for the Coral
and Sunbeam labels before retiring from music in the early
'70s. Briggs then relocated to Miami Beach, where she became a
partner in the waterfront resort Turnberry Isle; her business
dealings made her a very wealthy woman, and she lived the high
life during the decades to follow. Her many personal
connections also made her a footnote to one of the biggest
scandals of the 1980s -- Briggs regularly loaned her yacht
"Monkey Business" to various friends and contacts, and it was
aboard the ship that aspiring Presidential candidate Gary Hart
was photographed with mistress Donna Rice, bringing his
political aspirations to a swift end. Briggs died of lung
cancer in Miami on April 11, 1998. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music
Guide