Dorothy Sloop

Who was Dorothy Sloop?

Dorothy Sloop, also known as Dorothy Sloop Heflick, was an American jazz musician. She was born in Steubenville, Ohio. She went by the nickname Sloopy. During her performing years, she was best known as a pianist with a number of all female jazz bands in the New Orleans area, primarily from the 1930s through the 1950s. She recorded an album, Dixie and Sloopy, in 1957 with Yvonne "Dixie" Fasnacht, a jazz vocalist and clarinetist who operated a bar called Dixie's Bar of Music on Bourbon Street.

Sloop retired to Florida and became a teacher. She died in Pass Christian, Mississippi at age 84.

Her name is now commonly associated with the song "Hang on Sloopy", performed by The McCoys and other artists during the 1960s, as it is alleged that Dorothy was the inspiration for the song. This song is now the official rock song of the U.S. state of Ohio, and it is performed often by the marching band of The Ohio State University and at Progressive Field where the professional baseball team the Cleveland Indians play.