"I can't hardly tell you how it makes me feel. I'm kind of choked up," said LaSalle, 69, who was joined on the Senate floor by lawmakers and R&B singer Dorothy Moore.
LaSalle's hits include "Trapped by a Thing Called Love" and "Down Home Blues," which legislators made a point of saying was for mature audiences.
LaSalle said she knew as a child that she wanted to become a performer and earned her first pay - 50 cents - from a woman who overheard her singing a song as she walked from school.
Born in Leflore County in central Mississippi in 1939, her family eventually moved to a nearby county where she helped them pick cotton. LaSalle headed to Chicago when she was 13 to live with relatives.
"When I left Mississippi, I left with tears in eyes," LaSalle told lawmakers. "But I'm so proud of Mississippi. Mississippi is my banner."
Her first hit came in 1967 with "A Love Reputation." She's also a noted songwriter, penning Z.Z. Hill's hit, "Someone Else Is Stepping In."
LaSalle now lives in Jackson, Tenn.
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