Blues Musician Tabby Thomas Dies At 84

Chris Thomas King plays on the House of Blues stage with his father, Tabby Thomas, in 2001, at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.i i

hide captionChris Thomas King plays on the House of Blues stage with his father, Tabby Thomas, in 2001, at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.


Douglas Mason/AP

Chris Thomas King plays on the House of Blues stage with his father, Tabby Thomas, in 2001, at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Chris Thomas King plays on the House of Blues stage with his father, Tabby Thomas, in 2001, at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Douglas Mason/AP

Legendary bluesman Tabby Thomas died on Wednesday at the age of 84.

He would have celebrated his 85 birthday on Sunday.

NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reports Thomas was probably best known for opening Tabby’s Blue Box in Baton Rouge, La.

He opened the club in the late 70s and it gave Louisiana blues musicians, who had lost opportunities because of the disco craze, a place to play.

Blues lovers from across the globe flocked to Tabby’s.

The original club was forced to close in 2000. The second location closed in 2004 after Thomas suffered a stroke and could not longer oversee its operations, according to The Associated Press.

His son Chris Thomas King is also a musician and an actor.

Joylyn Thomas Wright tells WAFB-TV that her father’s favorite saying was: Blues is my life. I’m not saying it’s right. I’m not saying it’s wrong — c’est la vie.

Article source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/01/02/259008044/blues-musician-tabby-thomas-dies-at-84?ft=1&f=1001

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