Lloyd Price's 1958 hit 'Stagger Lee' told the story of a real-life killing—but the upbeat rock and roll track still climbed to No. 1 on the charts in 1959.
In the African-American community, the folk song “Stagger Lee” sits alongside “Frankie & Johnny” or “Bonnie and Clyde” as an iconic murder ballad: The story of a brutish thug (Stagger) who kills a man ...