Sugar Pie DeSanto

Sugar Pie DeSanto | Paul Chinn/San Francisco Chronicle | tc035

Umpeylia Marsema Balinton (Sugar Pie DeSanto) was born on October 16, 1935 in New York and grew up near her friend Etta James. She joined the Johnny Otis Revue in 1955, which is when Johnny Otis gave her her stage name. She joined Chess in 1962 and stayed until 1966. She also worked with the James Brown Revue. Ms DeSanto lived in San Francisco, where she had headlined the Bay Area Blues Festival. After two months in hospice care, Ms DeSanto died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and congestive heart failure on Friday, 20th December, 2024.

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