Zoletta Lynn Taylor (March 17, 1938 – April 30, 2007) was an American singer. She was the original female member of

The Platters The Platters was an American vocal group formed in 1952. They are one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound bridges the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the new burgeoning genre. The ac ...

from 1954 to 1962, when the group produced most of their popular singles.

Litigation

Zola Taylor was a member of The Platters until 1962, when she was replaced by singer

Barbara Randolph Barbara Randolph (May 5, 1942July 15, 2002), also known as Barbara Ann Sanders, was an American soul singer and actress who recorded for Motown Records in the 1960s. Biography She was born in Detroit and was adopted by the actress Lillian Randol ...

. Taylor was the second of

Frankie Lymon Franklin Joseph Lymon (September 30, 1942 – February 27, 1968) was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of the New York City-based early rock and roll doo-wop group Th ...

's three wives. In 1984, on behalf of Emira Lymon, a lawyer and artists' agent sued to wrest the

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

of Frankie's hit song " Why Do Fools Fall in Love" away from the current owner. The case became confused when it looked like Lymon had a second and possibly a third widow. Elizabeth Waters claimed to have married Lymon in 1964 in Virginia. However, it turned out she had been married to someone else at the time. As Waters' claim went to court, Taylor claimed that she had been sexually active with Lymon as early as the "Biggest Rock "n" Roll Show of 1956" tour. She claimed to have married Lymon in Mexicali, Mexico around 1965, but could not produce a marriage license. The first hearing, held in Philadelphia, was decided in favor of Waters being Lymon's first wife. Emira Eagle, his third wife, appealed and won a reversal based on her claim that she was Lymon's first wife.

Accomplishments, death and legacy

Taylor appeared with The Platters in the first rock'n'roll film, ''

Rock Around the Clock "Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter being under the pseudonym "Jimmy De Knight") in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was record ...

''. In 1990, Taylor was elected to the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

as a member of The Platters. Zola Taylor died in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

at age 69, from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

, following a series of strokes. Zola Taylor was portrayed by

Halle Berry Halle Maria Berry (; born Maria Halle Berry; August 14, 1966) is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant and coming in sixth in the Mis ...

in the 1998 film '' Why Do Fools Fall in Love''.

References

Links

* * 1938 births 2007 deaths 20th-century African-American women singers American women pop singers American rhythm and blues singers The Platters members RPM Records (United States) artists Mercury Records artists Singers from Los Angeles Deaths from pneumonia in California Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women {{US-RnB-singer-stub