A legend of the song has passed away. Ronnie Spector, leader of The Ronettes, passed away at the age of 78 this Wednesday, January 12. His hits Be my baby and Walking in the rain had marked the spirits.
This is very sad news reaching us from the United States. This Wednesday January 12, Ronnie Spector has died aged 78. Leader of the girl group The Ronettes, she had Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray dance on her hit Be My Baby, in the movie Dirty Dancing. The ’60s star singer was diagnosed with cancer. “Ronnie lived his life with a twinkle in his eye, a brave demeanor, a creaky sense of humor and a smile on his face. She was filled with love and gratitude“, his family announced in an official statement.
With their sexy looks and powerful voices, the Ronettes had embodied one of the very first “girls band“in the United Kingdom. A group of Ronnie Spector, his sister Estelle and his cousin Nedra, who had achieved success thanks to hits such as Walking in the rain, I can hear music or Baby, I Love You. “We weren’t afraid to be sexy. It was our hallmark. When we saw The Shirelles take the stage with their wide evening dresses on, we went in the opposite direction and molded our bodies into the tightest skirts we could find. Then we would go up on stage and pull up those skirts to show our legs even more. “, had explained Ronnie Spector in his Memoirs.
Ronnie Spector trapped in toxic relationship
Born Veronica Bennett on August 10, 1943 in New York, Ronnie Spector grew up in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Along with her sister and cousin, they had started singing and dancing in clubs under the band name Ronnie and the Relatives, getting noticed by their makeup: a look underlined by a thick coat of mascara. After a first contract signed in 1963 with the legendary producer Phil Spector, she had immediate success thanks to their first album, Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica, of which five of the twelve titles had taken place in the American Billboard.
The group finally broke up in 1967, after a tour of Germany. The following year, Ronnie married Phil Spector, who had pushed her to live as a recluse in his California home in Beverly Hills. A toxic and abusive relationship that she had denounced years later in an autobiography, after divorcing in 1974.