Candye Kane has passed - My thoughts and prayers are with her family

This was written and posted by Evan Caleb Yearsley:

This is the hardest thing to ever have to deal with let alone write, I'm really sorry to have to inform everyone that my mother Candye Kane Passed away last night at 10p. She went peacefully and pain free, and Laura Chavez was there by her side. Mom will continue to live in all of us and give us all her strength, and her love that she so willingly gave to everyone that was touched by her. She was and always will be the most amazing mother in the world and I can't begin to express how much our family, friends and her fans all truly love her and are going to miss her! So please light a candle, play her records, love big, and celebrate her life because that's what she would want us all to do. I just want to say I know you are looking down on all of us, and I can't wait to be with you again someday. Heroes live forever. I Love You Mom, Godspeed and Rest In Paradise Candye Kane.


Candye was accepted into the USC's music conservatory's junior opera program in 1976 but disliked opera and dropped out. She became part of the punk rock music scene of the early 1980s. She started country punk bands and befriended and shared the stage with musicians as diverse as Black Flag, Social Distortion, James Harman, The Circle Jerks, Los Lobos, The Blasters and Lone Justice. In 1985, she caught the attention of CBS/Epic A&R Head, Larry Hanby. She was signed to a developmental deal and recorded her first demo with Grammy Winner Val Garay. Kane was initially marketed as a country singer but CBS dropped her when they found out about her controversial past.
At 17 she got pregnant with her first son. When she turned 18 she turned to adult modeling and stripping to make some cash, appearing in videos and over 150 magazines from 1983 to 1985. Eventually she worked as a columnist for Gent magazine as well.
In 1986, Candye moved from Los Angeles to San Diego. She married bass player Thomas Yearsley (of rockabilly power trio The Paladins, with whom she had another son. Ms. Kane majored in women's studies at Palomar Community College. She continued to write songs and accidentally discovered the brash blues stylings of Big Maybelle, Ruth Brown, Big Mama Thornton, Etta James and Bessie Smith.
In 1991, Candye self-released Burlesque Swing, her first recording since A Town South of Bakersfield. In 1992 was signed by Clifford Antone to a record deal with Antones Records. Her first CD, Home Cookin', was produced by Cesar Rosas (of Los Lobos) and Dave Gonzales and Thomas Yearsley (of the Paladins). It was released in 1992 followed by Knock Out. She then signed with Discovery Records, releasing Diva La Grande, produced by Dave Alvin and Derek O'Brien. Next, she was signed by record mogul Seymour Stein to Sire Records during the height of the swing revival.
Candye released Swango which was produced by Mike Vernon for Sire/London Records (her only major label debut to date.) This was followed by her Rounder/Bullseye release, The Toughest Girl Alive, produced by Scott Billington. Next she released four CDs on the German Label Ruf Records. Subsequent titles include Whole Lotta Love produced by Val Garay and White Trash Girl^[ produced in Austin by Ruf Records and Mark Kazanoff. In 2007, she released Guitar'd and Feathered on the RUF records label. The CD was produced by former Muddy Waters guitarist Bob Margolin. In 2009, she signed to Delta Groove records and released Superhero in June 2009.
A stage play about Kane's life debuted at San Diego's Diversionary Theatre in January 2009, directed by Javier Velasco. The play is called The Toughest Girl Alive and is based on Kane's memoir about her turbulent life.
She was included on the 30 Essential Women of the Blues CD set released by the House of Blues record label and the Rock for Choice compilation. She appears with Lucinda Williams and Dwight Yoakam on Town South of Bakersfield on Enigma Records.


In 2011, Kane was nominated for two Blues Music Awards by the Blues Foundation, BB King Entertainer of the Year, and Best Contemporary Blues Female.
Kane was nominated for four Blues Music Awards,^[ for the BB King Entertainer of the Year Award, Best Contemporary Blues CD for Superhero, and Best Contemporary Blues Female of 2010. She has won numerous awards, including the Best Blues Band award at the San Diego Music Awards seven times.
Other recent honors include Best Blues CD of 2005 at the San Diego Music Awards; the Trophees France International Award 2004 for Best International Blues Chanteuse and Artist of the Year. She unseated Jewel for Artist of the Year at the San Diego Music Awards and won the California Music Award for Best Swing-Cabaret Artist. In May 2007, Kane won an award for Best Original Blues composition by the West Coast Songwriters Association for her song, "I'm My Own Worst Enemy". In 2012, Miss Kane received a special Courage in Music Award at the San Diego Music Awards ceremonies.
In 2014, Kane was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the 'Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year' category.