A host of stars, including Chaka Khan, John Legend and Snoop Dogg have paid tribute to soul and R&B star Betty Wright.
The Grammy-winning star, whose hits include; ‘Clear Up Woman’, which was released when she was 18-years-old, in 1971, ‘Where Is The Love’, ‘No Pain, No Gain’ and ‘Tonight Is The Night’, had been facing a long battle against cancer.
A powerful and soulful vocalist, she was one of the first singers to use the “whistle register”, which was later utilised by the likes of Mariah Carey and Ariana Grande.
In the 1980’s she became the first Black female artist to have a gold record on her own label when she released her single; ‘Mother With’.
Modern-day soul legend, Mary J. Blige, sampled her 1971 track ‘Clean Up Woman’ on her hit ‘Real Love’.
She was a vocal coach for fellow award-winning soul diva, Beyoncé Knowles, as well as singing backing vocals herself for Mowtown legend, Stevie Wonder and Talking Heads’ David Byrne.
As a writer and producer, she also created a line of hits for internationally-renowned artists including Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Gloria Estefan and Britain’s own soulful songbird, Joss Stone.
Paying tribute to her auntie on Twitter, her niece posted; ‘My auntie was a legend… R.I.P. Betty Wright.’
She was 66.
