Soul, and R&B maven Betty Wright, beloved for penning songs ‘Clean Up Woman,’ ‘Tonight Is the Night’ and ‘Girls Can’t Do What the Guys Do,’ has passed away, aged 66.
The singer’s cause of death has not been revealed, but her passing was confirmed by her niece, who took to Twitter to share: “Sleep in peace aunty Betty Wright. Fly high angel.”
Wright’s began singing in her family’s gospel group, the Echoes of Joy. As a teenager, she cut her teeth as a background singer on other artists’ recordings, before releasing her first music as a solo artist in 1967.
Wright broke into the public eye in 1971 with her song ‘Clean Up Woman’ — a musing on a woman who “cleans up” men other women have neglected — recorded when she was just seventeen. The song reached Number 6 on the US Charts, and has been sampled by artists like Mary J Blige and Chance the Rapper.
The seventies and eighties saw Betty Wright release a slew of hit singles like 1974’s ‘Tonight Is the Night’, 1978’s ‘Dance With Me’ with Peter Brown and 1988’s ‘No Pain, No Gain’.
In 1975, Wright won the Grammy for Best R&B Song for ‘Where Is the Love.’ Over the course of her illustrious career, the singer was nominated for six Grammy Awards. In 2008, she scored a nod for Album of the Year for her contribution to Lil Wayne’s seminal record, Tha Carter III; Wright contributed to album track ‘Playing With Fire.’
Betty Wright and her enduring legacy permeate through music. She has been sampled by Beyoncé, Notorious B.I.G., SWG, 2Pac, YG, Slim Thug and more.
Love Blues Roots & Soul?
Get the latest Blues Roots & Soul news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
Her career transcended from star to mentor and Wright served as a coach and role model to younger artists such as Jennifer Lopez and Joss Stone.
“I believe in legacy,” Wright told NPR in 2011. “And I believe in making the radio sound better. If I gotta listen to it, I want it to sound good. So I’m tired of people disturbing the peace, getting on the radio and sounding a hot mess. If I can tell what the note really is, why let them go to the note they think it is? I’ve got that mama vibe. I don’t look at it with an ego.”
Check out ‘Clean Up Woman’ by Betty Wright:
