New Orleans entertainment legend Chris Owens died of a heart attack Tuesday morning after more than six decades of serenading and dancing for audiences.
Since 1956, Owens performed in the French Quarter in the heart of “The Big Easy,” becoming one of Bourbon Street’s most iconic figures.
The announcement of her death, which occurred in her St. Louis Street apartment, was relayed by longtime manager Kitsy Adams to news website Nola.
Owens, who came to prominence in the age of other famous New Orleans performers like Al Hirt and Pete Fountain, gained a reputation for putting on classy shows for generations of fans over the years.
The performer’s age is a long-held mystery for most New Orleans residents, with even today’s outlets having conflicting information. While Nola, citing a newspaper from 1956 that stated she was 23 at that time, estimated her age to be 88, WDSU claimed Owens would have been 90 in October, meaning she was 89 at the time of her death.
Adams, her manager, declined to officially say what age Owens was, but said she “was old enough to know what she wanted, young enough to do it, and her number was unlisted.”
Owens’ passing comes weeks before her annual Easter Parade that typically rolls through the French Quarter.
In 1956, Owens, who holds the affectionate moniker of “Queen of the Vieux Carre,” opened a nightclub on Bourbon Street — the heart of the French Quarter — that still operates to this day.
So adored by her home town that it even erected a statue in her honor in 2006. The New Orleans Mayor issued a statement mourning her passing.
“Today we mourn the passing of Chris Owens, one of the brightest lights of the French Quarter. The consummate entertainer and the star of her own Bourbon Street nightclub, Ms. Owens was charismatic, beautiful and iconic,” Mayor LaToya Cantrell said. “This news is even sadder, as we are just weeks away from the Easter Parade that became her most glorious stage. May she rest in God’s perfect peace.”
Published: Apr 5, 2022 05:22 pm