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Sugar Pie Desanto

October 16, 1935 – December 20, 2024

DeSanto was born Peylia Marsema Balinton in New
York City.

She had an African-American mother, who was a

concert pianist, and a Filipino father. She spent most of
her early life in San Francisco, California, where she
moved with her family at the age of four. She stood 4

feet 11 inches (1.50 m). As a young girl she was friends with Etta
James.

After learning piano from her mother, DeSanto launched her career by winning local
talent shows, then quickly graduating to nightclubs, despite being underage.

Johnny Otis discovered DeSanto playing the Ellis Theater. Otis took the young singer

to Los Angeles to record. DeSanto had to stand on a stack of phone books to reach
the studio’s microphones.

DeSanto married guitarist Pee Wee Kingsley

and moved to West Oakland to be closer to the
town’s late-night blues scene, which was
centered around venues like Slim Jenkins

Supper Club, Esther’s Orbit Room and the
Continental Club. In 1959, DeSanto wrote her
first big hit, ‘I Want to Know’, which was

produced by Bob Geddins, the founder of Big
Town Records.

In 1955, she toured with the Johnny Otis Revue.

Otis gave her the stage name Sugar Pie. In 1959
and 1960, she toured with the James Brown
Revue.

DeSanto was honored on December 10, 2020
by the Arhoolie Foundation, a nonprofit
organisation that honors artists who preserve

traditional music for future generations.

She was a 2024 inductee to the Blues Hall of
Fame.

DeSanto died on December 20, 2024, at the age of 89 in Oakland, California.

Ian K McKenzie