Background
She was born in Atlanta, Georgia on April 24, 1885 as Lillian Thomas. According to the New York Times she was the daughter of an African-American mother and French father, though other sources suggest that her father was Iroquois.
She was born in Atlanta, Georgia on April 24, 1885 as Lillian Thomas. According to the New York Times she was the daughter of an African-American mother and French father, though other sources suggest that her father was Iroquois.
She was billed as "The Kate Smith of Harlem" and "The Original Gay 90"s Gal". She was light skinned and "some black friends said that they did not realize she was a Negro until she told them."
She first performed in 1894 as "The Indian Princess" with an all-white female string band. And by 1896, billed as "The World"s Youngest Interlocutor", was performing in minstrel shows as a male impersonator, often credited as East. L. Brown to disguise her gender.
She developed an act in which she wore top hat and tails, sang several songs as a man, and then revealed her long hair and continued singing as a woman.
She claimed to be the first professional vocalist to sing the blues before a public audience, in performances at the Little Strand Theatre in Chicago in 1908. In 1918, she replaced Esther Bigeou as the female star of the popular musical comedy Rastus in New New York
She made her only recordings in March and May 1921, a few months after the pioneering blues recordings by Mamie Smith. Brown recorded for Emerson Records, backed by the Jazz-Bo Syncopators, a band that included Editor Cox (cornet), Bud Aiken and Herb Flemming (trombones), Garvin Bushell (clarinet), Johnny Mullins (violin), and Lutice Perkins (drums).
In all, she only recorded four tracks – "Ever Lovin" Blues", "If That"s What You Want Here lieutenant Is", "The Jazz Maine Blues", and "Bad-Land Blues".
They were then reissued under different names by other record labels. As by Maude Jones on Medallion, Fannie Baker on Oriole, and Mildred Fernandez on Regal. Lillyn Brown appeared on, toured in Europe, and performed at many of the major nightclubs in Harlem and on the Keith vaudeville circuit.
She announced her retirement in 1934, but appeared in 1938 in the show Sing Out the News.
In 1949 she appeared in Marc Blitzstein"s opera Regina, at the 46th Street Theatre in New New York In 1952 she appeared in a short-lived revival of Kiss Maine, Kate on She operated an acting and singing school in Manhattan during the 1950s, and taught at the Jarahal School of Music in Harlem.
She also wrote, performed and produced plays for the Abyssinian Baptist Church, and was active in the African American Actors Guild. Her final public performance was at a tribute concert for Mamie Smith in 1964.
She died in Manhattan, New York City on June 8, 1969 at the age of 84.
Sing Out the News (1938)
Regina (1949)
Kiss Maine, Kate revival (1952).