Rosa King
Rosa King (March 14, 1939 – December 12, 2000) was an American jazz and blues saxophonist and singer who made her fame in Amsterdam.
Rosa King
![Amerikaanse tenorsaxofoniste Rosa King. Collectie / Archief Fotocollectie Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst Eigen Reportage / Serie [onbekend] Beschrijving Amerikaanse tenorsaxofoniste Rosa King (treedt op in filmcafé) Annotatie Foto genomen in een park Datum ongedateerd Locatie Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Trefwoorden jazz, muziek, saxofonisten Persoonsnamen King, Rosa Fotograaf Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst (RV](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Amerikaanse_tenorsaxofoniste_Rosa_King_%E2%80%94_NL-HaNA_2.24.10.02_0_135-0200_1_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Amerikaanse_tenorsaxofoniste_Rosa_King_%E2%80%94_NL-HaNA_2.24.10.02_0_135-0200_1_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst (RVD) · Public domain
- Born
- 1939 · Macon.
- Died
- 2000 · Rome.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- singer · saxophonist · musician
- Fields
- jazz
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Documentary summary
Rosa King (March 14, 1939 – December 12, 2000) was an American jazz and blues saxophonist and singer who made her fame in Amsterdam.
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Note VALÉORINE
Rosa King (1939–2000) was an American musician, saxophonist and singer. Born in Macon, the musician died in Rome. Genres include jazz.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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wikidata · Q2215595 · wikipedia · Rosa King
In this article
Career
Career
King was born in Macon, Georgia, United States. During her career, she worked with Ben E. King, Cab Calloway, Eric Burdon, and Sly Hampton. Her reputation was boosted by a tenor sax battle with Stan Getz at the North Sea Jazz Festival in 1978. She appeared on the TV show Sesame Street and in European television shows, as well as the cult film Comeback by Eric Burdon. Many careers were launched in her band, including those of Candy Dulfer, Saskia Laroo, and Alex Britti. She died from a heart attack in Italy shortly after a televised performance with Alex Britti in December 2000. Although King was popular in Europe, she had little exposure in America except for brief periods when she lived in New York City, maintaining an apartment there for many years even while living in Amsterdam. The year before she died, she returned to Georgia to perform with a band under the name Rosa King and the Looters. Band members included J. Lyon Layden on guitar, Eric Layden on bass, Kristina Train on vocals and violin, Jeff Evans on drums, and Dan Walker on keyboards. During the same year, she performed at a jazz festival in South Africa and several dates in the Netherlands. Her last performance in Italy was a reunion with guitarist Alex Britti in a nationwide televised concert with nearly 100,000 people in attendance. Although she had suffered several heart attacks the week before, she performed in a wheelchair. Twelve hours later she died. A Rosa King Foundation was established in the Netherlands to help young female artists, and a memorial concert was conducted at the Melkweg concert house in Amsterdam.
Trivia
Trivia
King went to school with Richard Penniman (Little Richard).
![Amerikaanse tenorsaxofoniste Rosa King. Collectie / Archief Fotocollectie Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst Eigen Reportage / Serie [onbekend] Beschrijving Amerikaanse tenorsaxofoniste Rosa King (treedt op in filmcafé) Annotatie Foto genomen in een park Datum ongedateerd Locatie Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Trefwoorden jazz, muziek, saxofonisten Persoonsnamen King, Rosa Fotograaf Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst (RV](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Amerikaanse_tenorsaxofoniste_Rosa_King_%E2%80%94_NL-HaNA_2.24.10.02_0_135-0201_1.jpg/800px-Amerikaanse_tenorsaxofoniste_Rosa_King_%E2%80%94_NL-HaNA_2.24.10.02_0_135-0201_1.jpg)
Amerikaanse tenorsaxofoniste Rosa King. Collectie / Archief Fotocollectie Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst Eigen Reportage / Serie [onbekend] Beschrijving Amerikaanse tenorsaxofoniste Rosa King (treedt op in filmcafé) Annotatie Foto genomen in een park Datum ongedateerd Locatie Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Trefwoorden jazz, muziek, saxofonisten Persoonsnamen King, Rosa Fotograaf Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst (RV
Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst (RVD)
Optreden Rosa King in Heemskerk, 1983
Fotopersbureau de Boer · Optreden Rosa King in Heemskerk. Reportagenummer 99790. Noord-Hollands Archief, collectie Fotopersbureau De Boer, NL-HlmNHA_1478_22711K00_01 t/m 12
Places
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Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Macon.
Birth place
Rome.
Death place
Discography
• Album — Tracks — Tracks • Rosa King & Upside Down * 1974 * Blue Elephant – PE 877072 * Dureco* * Vinyl, LP *Netherlands — *1 Up Side Down *2 Don't Make Me Wait In Vain *3 Feet Freak *4 I Got To Feel Free *5 Ghetto Of Peoples Minds *6 Do You Wanna — *7 Understanding *8 Fame And Fortune *9 Blues For You *10 Chicken Legs *11 Foot Steps *12 Troubles • Vrouwenfestival 1979 - Live at the Melkweg * 1979 Vrouwenfestival (women's festival) * with various female performers *Vinyl, LP *Milky Way Records *Netherlands *recorded live at the Melkweg, Amsterdam — * 1 So Far To Go 6:32 — * • So Far To Go * So Far To Go (LP, Album) Caribbean Circle F.C. 30505 Netherlands 1980 * Summertime (LP, Album) Балкантон ВТА 2095 Bulgaria 1979 — *1 Change Is Gonna Come 3:15 *2 So Far To Go 6:35 *3 When Your Love Is Gone 6:15 *4 No Tears 3:15 — *5 Summer Time 4:00 *6 Do You Love Me Because 3:30 *7 Hello Lover 3:10 *8 All In The Name Of Love 5:00 • Too Busy * 1980/1984 *Pop Eye Label PE 105 * Vinyl, LP, Mini-Album * Netherlands — *1 Too Busy (Loving You) 3:40 *2 Can't Go Through Life 3:55 *3 I Never Knew 4:02 — *4 You've Changed Your Mind 5:43 *5 Sometimes 4:28 • Rosa King's Favourite Blues Live * Live LP * 1981 Paradise + 1991 Riff *Rosa Kings Favourite Blues (LP, Album) Paradise SMC 100.005 1981 *The Rosa Kings Favorite Ballads (LP, Album) Paradise SMC 100.005 1981 *Rosa King's Favourite Blues (CD, Album, Liv) D&K CD 860037 1991 *Netherlands — *1 Gotta Be Free 4:30 *2 So Many Nights And Days 5:00 *3 St. James Infirmary 4:47 *4 Please Send Me Someone To Love 5:00 — *5 Gonna Find A New Love 4:20 *6 Georgia On My Mind 4:45 *7 Going Down Slow 12:15 *8 Trouble In My Mind 4:44 • Under The Cover *1987 * Under The Cover (LP) D&K D&K 87011 Netherlands 1987 *Under The Cover (LP) AVC AVL-2006 Spain 1989 — *1 Baby I Didn't Know 4:05 *2 Hello Lover 3:37 *3 The Every Best 6:19 *4 Who's Playing A Joke On Who 4:06 — *5 You're In Love 6:07 *6 It Wasn't Easy 4:49 *7 Test Of Time 5:15 *8 You Love Me To Much 5:26 • Jazz out of Harlem *LP 1986 *EMI — * — * • "Who's Playing A Joke On Who?" * Maxi single 1988 Metropole *1987 *Who's Playing A Joke On Who (12") Metropol Records MRP-109-MX Spain 1988 *Who's Playing A Joke On Who (7") D&K 787011 Netherlands 1987 *Who's Playing A Joke On Who (7", Promo) Metropol Records MRP- 109-S Spain 1988 — *1 Who's Playing A Joke On Who 4:06 — *2 You Love Me To Much 5:26 • It Just Happened Live Cafe Alto *1992 *Riff – 85009-2 *CD, Album *Netherlands — *1 Why 7:54 *2 It Just Happened 7:05 *3 Gonna Find Me A New Love 10:04 *4 Own Decision 4:33 *5 Big Mistake 8:11 — *6 Don't Activate My Love Decease 8:47 *7 Taking Me A Chance 5:11 *8 Cold Cold Feeling 10:13 *9 Do You Feel Like Some Times 6:47 *10 Lonely Me 6:58 • Salsa Carnaval Live * — * — * • Cheating on Me * * CD 1992 Bloomdido Productions/ live recording in Le Duc des Lombards, Parijs on 23/24 June 1992 with guest the American guitarist Luther Allison — *1. Cheating On Me (2:58) *2. Trouble Free (3:00) *3. Don't Activate My Love Disease (6:07) *4. I Ain't Nobody's Fool (6:18) *5. I Got To Be Free (6:02) — *6. Lay Down Beside You (7:15) *7. T/he Perfect Love (7:57) *8. Living And Loving (9:13) *9. So Far To Go (5:02) *10. Gonna Find Me A Love (9:08) • The Best of Rosa King & Upside Down * 1995 June Riff * CD — *1 You've changed your mind 5:43 *2 Georgia on my mind 4:43 *3 I never knew 4:01 *4 Why 7:53 *5 Lonely me 3:00 — *6 Can't go through life 3:56 *7 The very best 6:20 *8 Too busy (Loving you) 3:42 *9 Cheating on me 6:55 *10 I ain't nobody's fool 6:18 • 25 Years Still Going Strong *Riff – 85054-2 *CD *Netherlands *1997 okt 1996 Recorded at Studio 88 Hilversum — *1 Still Going Strong 3:29 *2 Catch 22 5:55 *3 When Love Is Gone 3:39 *4 Digging Them Potatoes 3:26 *5 Come In, Sit Down 4:50 *6 Bad Case Of The Blues 4:17 — *7 Have You Ever Loved A Woman 7:05 *8 It's Over 3:53 *9 No Time To Shop Around 3:17 *10 Bayerisher Hof 5:50 *11 I Keep Hurting 6:12 • Rosa King & Up Side Down: "Do You Wanne" *Frans Peters Studio – 6802 137 *Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single, Stereo *Netherlands *1974 Maybe never official released. Misspelling in the title (Wanne) is on sleeve and record. Rosa King And Upside Down on this single without the crowd sound that appears on the LP that Frans Peters recorded in 1974. — *1 Do You Wanne — *2 Understanding • Rosa King & Up Side Down: "Baby, I Didn't Know" *AVC, S.A. – AVC 206 *Vinyl, 7", Single *Spain *1989 — *1 Baby I Didn't Know 4:05 — *2 You Love Me To Much 5:26 • Summertime *ВТА 2095 *Vinyl, LP, Album *Bulgaria *1979 *So Far To Go (LP, Album) Caribbean Circle F.C. 30505 Netherlands 1980 — *1 Change Is Gonna Come *2 So Far To Go *3 When Love Is Gone *4 No Tears — *5 Summertime *6 Do You Love Me *7 Hello Lover *8 All In The Name Of Love
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Rosa King”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2215595: Rosa King
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.The Dead Rock Stars Club 2000. Thedeadrockstarsclub.com.
- 2.Rosa King | Songs. AllMusic.
- 3.Rosa King - Rosa King And Upside Down. Discogs. 1974.
- 4.Rosa King & Upside Down (5) - So Far To Go. Discogs. 1980.
- 5.Rosa King & Upside Down (5) - Too Busy. Discogs. 1984.
- 6.Rosa King - Rosa Kings Favourite Blues. Discogs. 1981.
- 7.Rosa King & Up Side Down* - Under The Cover. Discogs. 1987.
- 8.Rosa King, Upside Down (5) - Who's Playing A Joke On Who. Discogs. 1987.
- 9.Rosa King & Upside Down (5) - It Just Happened. Discogs. 1992.
- 10.Rosa King - 25 Years Still Going Strong. Discogs. 1997.
- 11.Rosa King - Do You Wanne / Understanding. Discogs.
- 12.Rosa King & Up Side Down* - Baby, I Didn´t Know. Discogs. 1989.
- 13.Rosa King - Summertime. Discogs. February 20, 2024.
- 14.Rosa King's Web Site
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General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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