The character of Stagger Lee has been one of America’s most enduring folk heroes. There have been over 400 songs written about the swaggering, gun-toting, bad man. He has gone by many names: Stacks Lee, Stagolee, Staxs O’Lee. Sometimes he is presented as a malevolent villain, others a heroic defender of the oppressed. No matter the telling Stagger Lee is always a badass. Is this figure just a piece of fiction dreamt up by blues musicians and perpetuated by their rock’n’roll progeny? Or was there a real man behind the murderous myth? Tune-in and find out how Biggie Smalls, 19th century fightin’ words, and a milk white stetson hat all play a role in the story.

Works Cited

Brown, Cecil. Stagolee Shot Billy. Harvard University Press, 2003.

“Godfather of Gangsta.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 9 May 2003, www.theguardian.com/music/2003/may/09/artsfeatures.

Lester, Julius. Black Folktales. Grove Press, 1992.

Polenberg, Richard. Hear My Sad Story: the True Tales That Inspired “Stagolee”, “John Henry”, and Other Traditional American Folk Songs. Cornell University Press, 2015.

“The Real Story Behind That Bad Man ‘Stagger Lee’ • Missouri Life Magazine.” Missouri Life Magazine, 25 Feb. 2020, missourilife.com/real-story-behind-bad-man-stagger-lee/.

Roberts, John W. From Trickster to Badman The Black Folk Hero in Slavery and Freedom. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010.

“Stagger Lee.” The Song and Myth of Stagger Lee, staggerlee.com/.