Monica C. Parker, known as Sista Monica Parker, was born on April 27, 1956, in Gary, Indiana, and began singing at her local Baptist church at age seven. After serving in the United States Marine Corps from 1977 to 1980, she started her singing career in 1992, performing regularly at Emi's Bar & Grille in Santa Cruz, California. Her debut album, Get Out of My Way, was released in 1995 on Mo Muscle Records, with the track "Windy City Burner" promoting her initial tours across the US, Canada, and Europe. Subsequent albums included Sista Monica (1997) and People Love the Blues (2000). Parker's performances in Europe earned her the nickname "the Blues Lioness." She posthumously won a Blues Music Award as the Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year in 2015. Parker died from lung cancer on October 9, 2014, at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Modesto, California, aged 58.
