"The Witch Queen of New Orleans" is a 1971 song by American rock band Redbone. The single was released in May 1971 from Redbone's third album Message from a Drum, which is also titled The Witch Queen of New Orleans in its European release. The song peaked at No. 2 in the United Kingdom and No. 21 in the United States.
"The Witch Queen of New Orleans" is about a 19th-century practitioner of voodoo from New Orleans named Marie Laveau, referred to in the song lyrics as "Marie la Voodoo veau". This song was written by the two Mexican-Native American brothers of the group Redbone, Lolly Vegas and Pat Vegas. It shows influences from New Orleans R&B and swamp pop.
The song was released in 1971 with "Chant: 13th Hour" as the B-side in the US. It debuted in the Billboard Hot 100 chart in November 1971 in the US where it reach a peak of No. 21 in 1972 (chart date February 19, 1972). The song reached No. 2 in the UK single chart in October 1971 behind Rod Stewart's "Maggie May".
Australian pop group the Chantoozies released a version of the song in 1987 as their debut single, retitled "Witch Queen". The song peaked at number 4 on the Australian Kent Music Report and was featured on their self-titled debut album the following year.
7" single (K 208)
12" single ( X 14459)
Artist Howard Arkley produced a series of sketches in the early 1970s referencing popular songs, one of which is titled "Which Queen" as a reference to this song.
The song is commonly played during Halloween in the United States.