ABSTRACT
The confusion prompted by Hot Lips Page’s sudden illness did not end with his demise. During the course of his hospitalization, which lasted ten days, 1 a benefit jazz concert was organized by the promoter Jack Crystal to help the trumpeter get back on his feet. Then, according to the Amsterdam News, Lips lapsed into a coma, sometime around October 31, and died five days later. 2 After his death, it was decided that the concert would go on as scheduled but with the intent of providing money for Spike and Elizabeth. The word on the street was that Lips had suffered a heart attack, but later pneumonia and kidney failure were rumored to have been the cause of death. 3 The odd circumstances that put him in the hospital in the first place were never leaked to the press.
