Veteran Chicago blues singer Jesse Fortune dead

Veteran Chicago blues singer Jesse Fortune is dead at the age of 79.

Authorities say Fortune, who was most active in the 1950s and 60s, collapsed on stage while performing at a West Side club and pronounced dead early Monday morning at Mt. Sinai Hospital. A spokesman for the Cook County Medical Examiner's office said an autopsy showed Fortune died of coronary atherosclerosis.

Fortune, better known as the "Fortune Tellin' Man," was born in Macon, Miss., and migrated to Chicago in 1952. Perhaps best known for his 1963 recording "Too Many Cooks," which became a minor hit, he later worked with Otis Rush, Buddy Guy and Willie Dixon.

Friends said Fortune also owned a barbershop on the West Side.