The Dixie Cups seemed to have the world on a string. Their songs were lively and popular, singing on such topics as love, romance, and Mardi Gras, including the classic "Iko Iko." Behind the stage curtain, however, their real-life story was one of cruel exploitation by their manager, who continued to harass the women long after they finally broke away from his thievery and assault. Of the three young women, no one suffered more than the youngest, Rosa Hawkins, who was barely out of high school when the New Orleans teens were discovered and relocated to New York City. At the peak of their success, Rosa was a naïve songstress entrapped in a world of abuse and manipulation.
Chapel of Love: The Story of New Orleans Girl Group the Dixie Cups explores the ups and downs of one of the most successful girl groups of the early 1960s. Telling their story for the first time, in their own words, Chapel of Love reintroduces the Louisiana Music Hall of Famers to a new audience.
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Steve Bergsman (published in the NYT, WSJ, & Black Enterprise & author of multiple books including Chapel of Love: The Story of New Orleans Girl Group the Dixie Cups) presents a new look at three #musicians who forever impacted modern #music as we know it: https://t.co/9wmdtdbAGg https://t.co/msdlKE6vu3
A portrait gallery of people who shaped the world.
The Dixie Cups’ debut single, “Chapel of Love,” rose to the top of the charts in 1964, displacing the Beatles’ “Love Me Do.” One of the trio’s singers, Rosa Lee Hawkins, is dead at 76. https://t.co/V4iUkPq3bY
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Rosa Lee Hawkins, the youngest member of the trio the Dixie Cups, whose hit single “Chapel of Love” reached No. 1 on the Billboard 100 in 1964, has died at 76. https://t.co/E9Gq5ChXZl