Real name: Mildred Sallier

Effective period / Period of releases: 1952 - 1965

(Born on April 9, 1925, died November 24, 2014) Champion was raised by several aunts in Lake Charles, La.,. Her first singing experience took place in the Lake Charles Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, where her grandfather was a bishop.
Though she was best known to her legions of Los Angeles fans who heard her in local venues, Champion’s far-ranging career included performances on the same stage with Billie Holiday in Detroit, Sarah Vaughan in Kansas City, and Dinah Washington, Duke Ellington, T-Bone Walker, Ray Charles and Jackie Wilson, among others, in night spots across the country.