The School of Music and Theatre Professions hosted an evening with The Dixie Cups in March in Nunemaker Auditorium to celebrate the 60th anniversary of their hit, “Chapel of Love.”
The evening began with a performance by Loyola's student vocal trio, Final Take, followed by a Q&A session with original Dixie Cup Barbara Ann Hawkins, hosted by journalist Arthel Neville. The Dixie Cups then took the stage for a free, 45-minute concert in front of a packed house.
The Dixie Cups – sisters Barbara Ann and Rosa Lee Hawkins and their cousin, Joan Marie Johnson – began singing together in grade school while living in the Calliope Housing Project in New Orleans. The trio shot to fame in 1964 with their hit song, “Chapel of Love,” which knocked the Beatles out of the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and sold more than one million copies.
The Dixie Cups had several other songs hit the Top 100, most notably the popular Mardi Gras song, Iko Iko, in 1965. The trio was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2007. Johnson died in 2016, and Rosa Lee Hawkins died in 2022.
As 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of “Chapel of Love,” the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival honored The Dixie Cups on this year’s poster. The trio, now consisting of Barbara Ann Hawkins, Athelgra Neville and Naydja CoJoe, also performed at the festival.
Athelgra Neville is the sister of Art Neville and aunt of Arthel Neville, Art’s daughter. Hawkins said she is thrilled Arthel conducted the Q&A session at Loyola because she considers Arthel “a niece by extended family.”
The community concert is the first in a new music series called “Live at Loyola,” which will take place once a semester with words and music. The Hilton-Baldridge endowment is funding concerts that allow legends like The Dixie Cups to play at Loyola.
