‘Chapel of Love’ singer Rosa Lee Hawkins of Dixie Cups dead at 76
ByBob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
ByBob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
TAMPA, Fla. — Rosa Lee Hawkins, an original member of the rhythm and blues trio the Dixie Cups who shot to No. 1 with “Chapel of Love” in 1964, died Tuesday in a Florida hospital. She was 76.
Her older sister and fellow bandmate Barbara Hawkins, told NOLA.com that Rosa Lee Hawkins died from internal bleeding and other complications following a surgical procedure in a Tampa, Florida, hospital.
The Dixie Cups were best known for their 1964 No. 1 single “Chapel of Love” and the 1965 hit “Iko Iko,” the website reported. “Chapel of Love” featured the close harmonies of the Hawkins sisters and their cousin, Joan Marie Johnson, NOLA.com reported.
The song also knocked the Beatles from the top of the Billboard 100, The New York Times reported. “Be My Baby” replaced “Love Me Do” at No. 1 and remained in the top spot for three weeks.
“Chapel of Love” was later covered by the Beach Boys and was featured in the soundtracks to the movies “Full Metal Jacket” (1987) and “Father of the Bride” (1991), the Times reported.
The group’s other hits included “People Say,” “You Should Have Seen the Way He Looked at Me” and “Little Bell,” NOLA.com reported.
Johnson left the group in 1966, but the Dixie Cups continued to perform with Athelgra Neville, a childhood friend and sister of the Neville Brothers, stepping in, the website reported.
The Hawkins sisters moved to Tampa, where Rosa Lee Hawkins’ son lived, after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, according to NOLA.com.
Johnson died in 2016, the newspaper reported.
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Photos: Dixie Cups singer Rosa Lee Hawkins through the years Here are some memorable photos of Rosa Lee Hawkins, of the Dixie Cups, through the years. (Erika Goldring/Getty Images)
Photos: Dixie Cups singer Rosa Lee Hawkins through the years Circa 1965: Photo of the Dixie Cups posing in a studio in 1965. (Gilles Petard/Redferns via Getty Images)
Photos: Dixie Cups singer Rosa Lee Hawkins through the years Circa 1965: The Dixie Cups perform at the Apollo Theater in the Harlem neighbourhood of the borough of Manhattan, in New York City circa 1965. (Don Paulsen/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Photos: Dixie Cups singer Rosa Lee Hawkins through the years 1990: Athelgra Neville (left), Rosa Hawkins and Barbara Hawkins of the Dixie Cups perform on stage at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana, on April 28, 1990. (David Redfern/Redferns via Getty Images)
Photos: Dixie Cups singer Rosa Lee Hawkins through the years 1994: Athelgra Neville (left), Rosa Hawkins and Barbara Hawkins of the Dixie Cups at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana, on April 23, 1994. (David Redfern/Redferns via Getty Images)
Photos: Dixie Cups singer Rosa Lee Hawkins through the years 2008: Dixie Cups sisters Rosa Lee Hawkins, left, and Barbara Ann Hawkins pose for a photograph at their hotel following an interview with the Associated Press in New Orleans on Wednesday, April 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)
Photos: Dixie Cups singer Rosa Lee Hawkins through the years 2008: In this May 3, 2008, file photo, members of the Dixie Cups, from left, Rosa Lee Hawkins, Joan Marie Johnson and Barbara Ann Hawkins, perform during the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)
Photos: Dixie Cups singer Rosa Lee Hawkins through the years 2009: The Dixie Cups sing "Big Chief" in the finale of the Lincoln Center Festival and Ponderosa Stomp concert "A Tribute to Wardell Quezergue" at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in New York on July 19, 2009. Pictured are, from left, Barbara Ann Hawkins, Rosa Lee Hawkins and Althegra Neville Gabriel. (Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images)
Photos: Dixie Cups singer Rosa Lee Hawkins through the years 2010: Rosa Hawkins of the Dixie Cups performs at the 2010 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Presented By Shell - Day 5 at the Fair Grounds Race Course on April 30, 2010, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Rick Diamond/Getty Images)
Photos: Dixie Cups singer Rosa Lee Hawkins through the years 2015: Rosa Hawkins (left), Athelgra Neville and Barbara Hawkins perform during the 2015 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell at Fair Grounds Race Course on May 2, 2015, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Douglas Mason/Getty Images)
Photos: Dixie Cups singer Rosa Lee Hawkins through the years 2018: Janie Bradford, Dee Dee Kenniebrew, Thelma Houston, Barbara Anne Hawkins, Claudette Rogers Robinson, Mary Wilson, Rosa Lee Hawkins and Brenda Holloway attend the after party for the opening night of "Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations" at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion on August 24, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
