NEW ORLEANS — From her stage to her famous balcony overlooking Bourbon Street, Chris Owens electrified and helped define New Orleans nightlife.
“When she was on that stage, she was her happiest and she was very dynamic as we all know,” said longtime manager and friend Kitsy Adams.
A dynamic dancer, singer and entertainer for seven decades, Chris Owens will always be the sewn into the cultural fabric of New Orleans.
“If you’re born and raised here you knew Chris Owens, you knew the name, you knew the club,” said Will Antill who works at Crossing NOLA near the Chris Owens Club.
Moving to the Big Easy from Texas at the age of 20, Owens met her late husband Sol Owens. With her love for entertaining, the couple bought the building at the corner of Bourbon and St. Louis. At the age of 23, Chris Owens was a star who only got brighter.
“She was just one of the legends you know,” said French Quarter musician Richard Egner who goes by the stage name Dick Deluxe.
“She never let the fame go to her head,” Adams said. “She never refused to take a picture, she never refused to say a kind word. She was in show business. That was her life and that’s how she gave back.”
The “Queen of Bourbon Street” also gave back through charities and local organizations to a city and its people she loved so much. Friends say the only thing bigger than her personality and brighter than her costumes, was her kindness.
“As beautiful as she was on the outside, is as beautiful as she was on the inside and she lived every day to the fullest,” Adams said. “Her belief was do something every single day that makes you happy.”
Adams was with Owens Tuesday when the 89-year-old died of a heart attack. Owens’ death comes as plans are underway for the iconic Easter parade she’s been a fixture of since 1983.
“She owns Easter in this town. You can’t picture it without here,” Egner said. “I think Easter is going to be one of the most special days in a long, long time. It’s going to turn into the epic second line parade and celebration.”
“I think her memory is going to be with us no matter what. She’ll be with us during the parade no matter what,” Anitll said.
As with show business, Adams says the show must go on.
“I believe that she’s definitely at peace and I know that she wants that Easter parade to go on and it will go on,” Adam said.
Moving on though won’t be easy, especially for those who knew her best, like her security guard Kevin Hubble who says Owens was more than a boss, she was family.
“Chris had a lot to do with everything that made my life a whole lot better and I really appreciate everything,” Hubble said.
That’s an appreciation felt not only by those who knew her.
“She gave the love to the people and the people gave the love back to her,” Adams said.
“There’s no doubt Chris definitely left her legacy here,” Antill said. “She’s going to be missed for sure.”
A candlelight vigil is planned for Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. outside Chris Owens Club.
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