Big Mama Thornton Husband: Who Is Leon Smith?

Leon Smith is reported as the husband of the late American R&B singer and songwriter, Willie Mae Thornton, better known as Big Mama Thornton.

It has been reported that Leon Smith and Big Mama Thornton were married in Los Angeles.

Big Mama Thornton’s marriage to Leon Smith is in contention and this is because Big Mama was very secretive about her private life.

In addition to that, according to Encyclopedia.com, Otis, a very close friend of Big Mama said of the supposed marriage;

There was a guy around sometimes who was introduced as her husband, but I don’t really think they were legally married. He was there as long as money was coming it. I could never get a handle on Willie Mae sexually and that’s not a judgment….

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People in the band heard these rumors that she was gay. She was a big woman and sometimes wore suits or masculine kinds of clothes, but that might not mean anything. All I can honestly say is that she was a good intelligent person.

I personally never saw her with any men, but on the other hand, I never saw her with any women either. So all I know is that I don’t know much about it.

Other reports also indicated that Big Mama may have been a lesbian.

Well, Big Mama’s private kife was not exposed to the public hence the numerous conflicting reports.

All the same, Big Mama was the first to record Leiber and Stoller’s “Hound Dog”, in 1952, which became her biggest hit, staying seven weeks at number one on the Billboard R&B chart in 1953 and selling almost two million copies.

Big Mama’s other recordings included the original version of “Ball and Chain”, which she wrote.

Big Mama’srecording of “Hound Dog”, written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1952, and later recorded by Elvis Presley, reached Number 1 on the Rhythm & Blues Records chart.

Big Mama was born on December 11, 1926 and she died on July 25, 1984 of heart and liver disorders due to her longstanding alcohol abuse.