by Steve LeggettBorn in Lake Charles, LA, powerhouse blues singer Mickey Champion has worked with the likes of T-Bone Walker, Little Esther Phillips, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, Jackie Wilson, and many others in her long but unfortunately largely unsung five-decade career. Discovered in L.A. (where she continues to make her home in the Crenshaw District) by bandleader and ever-vigilant talent scout Johnny Otis, Champion recorded several impressive R&B sides in the 1950s and early '60s, none of which established her as a household name. The wife of bandleader Roy Milton until his death, Champion began recording again in 2000, releasing I Am Your Living Legend! that year, followed by What You Want in 2003, both on Tondef Records. She was the subject of a video documentary produced by Paul Vic and Oletha Rogers called Champion Blues, and in 2008 Ace U.K. issued her collected singles from the 1950s and 1960s under the title Bam a Lam: The R&B Recordings 1950-1962.