Kickmag

Betty Wright started singing professionally at the age of three with her family’s gospel group, the Echoes Of Joy. The Miami native had her first recording contract at the age of twelve and the singles “Thank You Baby” and “Paralyzed” gave her local fame. Wright’s premiere solo album, My First Time Around, came out when she was 14 and “Girls Can’t Do What The Guys Do” was her first Top 40 hit. Her teenaged recording career continued with “Pure Love” and the creation of her national breakthrough song “Clean Up Woman” that earned her a Gold plaque she received on her 18th birthday. Wright’s output in the ’70′s had its most distinct moments with a quick trip into disco, the revelation of a whistle register and her biggest song. “Where Is The Love” and “Shoorah Shoorah” were dance hits, “Baby Sitter” and “Let Me Be Your Lovemaker” introduced her highest human pitch ability and “Tonight Is The Night” was another R&B chart coup. In the ’80′s she collaborated with Stevie Wonder on “What Are You Going To Do With It” and became the first Black woman to get a Gold record for her own record label when “No Pain, No Gain” and “After The Pain” made the Mother Wit album a profitable cultural boom. “U-R-A-Ho (And You Don’t Know)” is from her 2001 album Fit For A King. In 2011 her album with The Roots, Betty Wright: The Movie was released and “Surrender” received a Grammy nomination.