Ronnie Spector Became famous through hits like “Be My Baby” or “Baby, I Love You”.
US singer Ronnie Spector has died at the age of 78. “Our beloved earth angel Ronnie left this world peacefully today after a brief battle with cancer,” the family said on Wednesday (local time) on the artist’s website. Spector became known in the 1960s as the frontwoman of the trio “The Ronettes” and sang hits like “Be My Baby”, “Walking in the Rain” or “Baby, I Love You”.
“I loved her voice so much,” wrote Brian Wilson (79) of the Beach Boys on Twitter. “It breaks my heart.” Singer Diane Warren (65) paid tribute to the deceased colleague as “the voice of millions of teenage dreams, mine included”.
I just heard the news about Ronnie Spector and I don’t know what to say. I loved her voice so much and she was a very special person and a dear friend. This just breaks my heart. Ronnie’s music and spirit will live forever.
Love & Mercy, Brianhttps://t.co/dXZKTMWv8a— Brian Wilson (@BrianWilsonLive) January 12, 2022
With her sister Estelle and her cousin Nedra Talley, Ronnie formed a singing trio in New York in the late 1950s, which was later discovered by the successful producer Phil Spector. With heavy make-up, high-waisted black hair and tight skirts, the girl group put an end to the innocent demeanor of many of their pop colleagues and embodied a more wicked image. In 2007, the trio was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The singer was married for several years from 1968 to Phil Spector, who produced her greatest hits. In her memoirs, published in 1990, she described an abusive marriage, with beatings and death threats from her jealous and controlling husband.
The record producer and convicted murderer died in a California prison a year ago. Spector, who has also worked with music greats such as The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Tina Turner, was sentenced to 19 years in prison for the 2009 murder of actress Lana Clarkson.