Soul singer Betty Wright died today at the age of 66 after being ill with cancer. Chaka Khan had asked for people to pray for Wright on a Twitter post regarding her health on May 2nd. Wright was a Miami native who had her first hit song at age 18 with “Clean Up Woman” in 1971. She continued to have success in the ’70s with the singles “Baby Sitter,” “Let Me Be Your Lovemaker” and “Where Is The Love,” which earned her a Grammy. In the ’80s she reached a new generation of fans with the hits “No Pain, No Gain” and “After The Pain.” In 1987, she became the first Black woman artist to get a Gold album on her own label for Mother Wit. She released three albums in the ’90s and worked with Gloria Estefan. She received a Grammy nomination for co-producing Joss Stone’s Mind, Body & Soul album in 2005. In 2006, she appeared on the television show Making The Band as a vocal coach for Danity Kane. In 2007, she collaborated with Angie Stone on the single “Baby” from Stone’s The Art Of Love And War album. She was featured on Lil Wayne’s song “Playing With Fire” from Tha Carter III but it was removed because of a lawsuit. It was at this time she also did vocal production work for Jennifer Lopez. In 2011 her album with The Roots, Betty Wright: The Movie was released. Snoop Dogg, Lenny Williams and Lil Wayne appeared on the album. The song “Surrender” was her last Grammy nomination. Wright’s work has been sampled by Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige and Chance The Rapper among many others. Betty Wright has long been considered as one of the great soul singers of her era and beyond.Â
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