Priscilla Bowman

Priscilla Bowman (born Priscilla I. Mills, May 30, 1928 – July 24, 1988) was an American jazz and rhythm and blues singer, who had a No. 1 hit single on the Billboard magazine R&B chart in 1955 with the song "Hands Off". She was the lead singer for the Jay McShann band.

Biography The daughter of Ethel and Solomon Mills, she was born in Kansas City, Kansas, and has been called the city's "original rock 'n' roll mama." Her influences included singers Ruth Brown and Annie Laurie.

She recorded three sessions for Vee-Jay and its subsidiary label, Falcon, as a solo singer between 1957 and 1959 but could not repeat her success. The song was written with Brook Benton and became a hit when Benton recorded it himself as a duo with Dinah Washington in 1960.

Bowman recorded again for Abner Records in 1959 and continued to record and make personal appearances, some with McShann, through the mid-1970s. She retired to family life.