Betty Wright, Grammy-Winning Soul Music Icon, Has Died At 66
Betty Wright has passed away at the age of 66. The 70s music icon invested her vocals into R&B and soul. Wrightโs niece shared the shocking news via Twitter on Motherโs Day (May 10).
Playing a major role in the music industry, Wrightโs most popular songs included โNo Pain, (No Gain)โ and โTonight Is the Night.โ Her 1972 single โClean Up Womanโ would be memorialized when it was sampled for Mary J. Bligeโs remix of โReal Love,โ going down in hip-hop/soul history.ย
Wrightโs classic hit โWhere Is the Love,โ was crowned Best R&B Song during the 1976 Grammys, she was later named the Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer for Individual Artists in 2000.ย
Her riff from โClean Up Womanโ has created a life-long legacy as the cut has been sampled by other artists includingย SWV,ย Sublime, Willie D, Afrika Bambaattaa, and Chance the Rapper. Her first hit, โGirls Canโt Do What Guys Do,โ was later sampled for Beyonceโs โUpgrade U.โย
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The cause of death of Ms. Betty Wright has yet to be revealed, though just one week ago (on May 2), Chaka Khan took to Instagram asking for prayers for Wright:
Here is what Twitter had to say to mourn the legend: