Kerry Price, Detroit-Area Blues Legend, Dies at 86

Kerry Price, longtime resident of Royal Oak, MI, age 86, passed peacefully into the arms of the Lord on March 2, 2026. Born on March 6, 1939, to William “Bill” and Anna Blye Price (née Blakey), Kerry was a lifelong lover of, teacher of, and performer of music.

Kerry graduated from Atherton High School in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1956, received her bachelor’s degree in Music Education in 1960 at Indiana University, and her Masters of Music from the University of Michigan in 1966.

Her love of music could be seen in the many musical roles she undertook in her life, including 40 years of teaching music in middle school and high school at Mount Clemens and Bloomfield Hills school districts and Detroit Country Day School, and as an accompanist for Detroit Public Schools.

Kerry kicked off her jazz/blues career with Rich Bloch and the Gaslighters at Bimbo’s Ann Arbor in the ’60s, featuring Kerry on piano and vocals. She is the vocalist on two highly-collectible vinyl records with the Mother’s Boys band out of Ann Arbor. Kerry is fondly remembered for rousing sing-alongs at the fabled Dakota Inn Rathskeller. For many years, Kerry accompanied Detroit’s Brazeal Dennard Chorale in celebrating African American composers and perpetuating the Negro Spiritual heritage.

In 1979, a biographical dictionary of famous blues singers was published by Sheldon Harris. Kerry was prominently featured in Blues Who’s Who listing an incredible number of performances, festivals, recordings and programs.

Kerry, always a fan favorite, performed piano and vocals in the best venues featuring American jazz, blues, and ragtime. For decades, Kerry’s talent and zest have graced the celebrated Michigan Jazz Festival, the annual Frankenmuth Ragtime Festival, and the Greater Detroit Jazz Society, sharing stages with national luminaries and local legends.

She was the Director of Music at Pilgrim Congregational Church from 1976-2025. At Pilgrim, she not only taught Bible study for many years, but also directed the adult and children’s choirs, summer concert series Summer Sounds, as well as Vacation Bible School and MusicMakers.

A Royal Oak, Michigan resident of nearly five decades, Kerry’s trustworthy presence ably served the Royal Oak Musicale Chorus. In recent years, Kerry has hosted monthly sing-alongs at Royal Oak’s Leo Mahany / Harold Meininger Senior Community Center where, as only she could, Kerry lifts her loyal fans voices and sprits.

Local Detroiter and trumpet great Dave Tatrow, of the nationally-known New Reformation Jazz Band and Wally’s Warehouse Waifs adds, “My affiliation with Kerry Price started in the early 1980s with Chuck Moss’s Paint Creek Jazz Band. It was a six-piece trad band that played every Friday and Saturday night at a small club called Neeley’s Pub On The Hill in Rochester, Michigan. Chuck always hired the best trad players available in the greater Detroit area and Kerry was his first call on piano.

“While she played great piano, her vocal work was what stood out to my ears. Kerry didn’t just sing a song, she totally immersed herself emotionally into the lyrics and melody in a fashion reminiscent of the blues greats Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey. Kerry’s musical repertoire was vast and she moved around the keyboard like the seasoned pro that she was. Kerry Price was authentic in her approach to music. The influences of the great blues and jazz vocalist who proceeded her were always evident in Kerry singing, but never copied. Kerry was a one of a kind, the real deal, and will be missed by her fans and friends.”

Sally Bolle, director of the Greater Detroit Jazz Society (formerly the Windsor Detroit Jazz Club) remembers Kerry as not only a performer but a close friend since the 1970s. Kerry brought creative and talented groups to “Jazz at Shield’s,” a Saturday afternoon fixture for jazz lovers in the Detroit area for 30 years or more. Often it was Kerry and Friends, or an all-female band. She loved mentoring young local musicians interested in early jazz, sharing her wealth of knowledge and organizing bands who normally didn’t perform together.

Best friends Ray Heitger and the Cakewalkin’ Jass Band of Toledo were often jazz collaborators, with daughter Nicole Heitger being mentored by Kerry and carrying the torch forward of Kerry’s signature song “Oh, Daddy.” Ragtime Rick Grafing, wife Betsy (Banjo Betsy), and the Chefs of Dixieland were another group of friends who organized music events. Rick Grafing recently spent hours digitizing and remastering Volume 1 of Mother’s Boys as a keepsake for Kerry’s friends and fans. R.J. Spangler and Planet D Nonet is a highly regarded and recorded band who loved to include Kerry on vocals when possible.

A Memorial Service for Kerry will be given in her honor at Pilgrim Congregational Church, 3061 N. Adams Road, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, on Saturday, April 11, at 11am.

Shield’s of Southfield and the Greater Detroit Jazz Society, along with Kerry’s family, will host a musical Celebration of Life with a tribute band led by Dave Tatrow (sit-ins welcome). It will take place following the memorial service on Saturday, April 11, from 1-4 p.m. at Shield’s of Southfield, 25101 Telegraph Road, Southfield, Michigan.