Johnny Otis, singer of the 1958 hit "Willie and the Hand Jive", has died in California at the age of 90. Johnny Otis, singer of the 1958 hit "Willie and the Hand Jive", has died in California at the ...

Not many people pack as many careers into a life as Johnny Otis, who died earlier this week at the age of 90 in his home state of California. Author, disc jockey, talent scout, legislative staffer, ...

To the world, Johnny Otis was the rhythm-and-blues music pioneer who wrote the classic 1958 hit, "Willie and the Hand Jive." But to the people who knew Otis for the dozen years that he lived and ...

This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. Today, we continue our archive series R&B, rockabilly and early rock 'n' roll. Before Elvis Presley recorded "Hound Dog," it was recorded by Big Mama Thornton. The ...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Johnny Otis, singer of the 1958 hit "Willie and the Hand Jive", has died in California at the age of 90. Otis died on Tuesday in the Los Angeles suburb of Altadena, his friend ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Johnny Otis, who made the R&B classic "Willie and the Hand Jive" and evangelized black music to white audiences as a bandleader and radio host, has died in California at 90. His ...

The choice put him on a path to a life in music during which he created the sensually pulsing 1958 hit 'Willie and the Hand Jive.' It also gave him a deep connection to black culture that helped him ...

Otis, who had been suffering from health issues for several years, died at his Altadena home on Tuesday, said his manager, Terry Gould. Otis, who was white, grew up in a black section of Berkeley, ...