At first glance it would seem that Zakiya Hooker was born into the Blues. After all, her father is the late great Blues Legend John Lee Hooker. But rather than relying on her father, Zakiya has pursued life and music on her own terms.
In 1991 Zakiya made her first public appearance with her father, John Lee Hooker at the Kaiser Center Theatre in Oakland, California. Since that time Zakiya has gone on to peform on shows with Etta James, John Hammond, Taj Mahal, Charlie Musselwhite, Narada Michael Walden and many, many more. By 1993 Zakiya released her first CD “Another Generation Of The Blues” on Silverton Records. In 1997 she released her second CD “Flavors Of The Blues” worldwide on Pointblank/Virgin Records. 2001 brought a live release recorded in Buenos Aires, Argentina “Colors Of The Blues”. She is now finishing up her fourth CD.
Zakiya has spoken on Blues panels and given spoken word performances about this unique American Art form, all in addition to her performing and recording career. She was selected to give a spoken word performance at film director Martin Scorsese's Radio City Music Hall Blues Concert on February 7, 2003 in New York City, a concert that was filmed by director Antoine Fuqua. Zakiya was also a panelist, as well as a spoken word performer at San Francisco's KQED-TV launch program for Scorsese's fall PBS-TV series “The Blues” at San Francisco's Herbst Theatre on September 16, 2003.
Zakiya's music has carried her all over the world to perform for fans. Zakiya performs nationally and internationally. Zakiya has performed at the world famous Fillmore Auditorium, the San Francisco Blues Festival, the Monterey Jazz & Blues Festival and many more. She has been on the cover of several well known trade magazines including Billboard Magazine. Zakiya's voice can be heard on advertisements for LEXUS and AIWA, and on the soundtrack of the movie Chalk, which has won awards at the Camera d'Or at Cannes and Grand Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in San Francisco.
Zakiya Hooker is John Lee Hooker's living legacy. She is the singer-songwriter daughter of this American Icon and she is carrying her father's seminal blues torch confidently into the future. Zakiya's bluesy jazz sounds will take you in and out of songs like “Hey Lady”, “Crossroads”, “I Want To Hug You”, “New Orleans Rain”, “Protect Me From The Blues”, “Stones In My Passway” and many more to entertain you.
To see Zakiya perform is a treat in itself. She is a versatile vocalist and a fantastic performer. Her shows are lively, upbeat, witty, emotional and most of all entertaining. Catch her performance whenever you can.
