Adding to a difficult weekend for the music world, legendary R&B singer Betty Wright has died at the age of 66. Tracking back to the late 1960s, Wright began her career at the age of 14 when she released her first album, My First Time Around, where she earned her first top-40 hit, “Girls Can’t Do What the Guys Do.”
Throughout her career, she delivered a number of R&B hits including “Let Me Be Your Lovermaker,” “Shoorah Shoorah,” “Tonight is the Night,” and “Where is the Love.” With her niece Chaka Khan confirming her death to TMZ, a cause of death has yet to be revealed.
Calling all my #PrayWarriors | My beloved sister, Betty Wright @MsBettyWright, is now in need of all your prays.
“Que Sera, Sera | Whatever Will Be, Will Be”
In Jesus Name We Pray for Sister Betty
All My Love Chaka pic.twitter.com/krQcfWFl5r— C H A K A | K H A N (@ChakaKhan) May 2, 2020
Khan first alluded to a possible health concern with Wright on May 2 after she tweeted, “Calling all my #PrayWarriors. My beloved sister, Betty Wright @MsBettyWright, is now in need of all your prayers.”
After her success in the 1980s, Wright would go on to start her own music label, Mrs. B Records, becoming the first female artist to do so. It was there where she recorded “No Pain (No Gain)” and “Mother Wit,” with the latter attaining a gold certification and making her the first female African American singer to go gold on their own label. Throughout her career, Wright earned six Grammy nominations and won the award once in 1975 for “Where Is The Love” under the Best Rhythm & Blues Song category.
Sharing nearly five decades of albums with the world, Wright became an influence to so many in music as names like Mary J. Blige, Beyonce, SWV, Tupac, Aaliyah, and Chance The Rapper sampling her work in their music.
