Ronnie Spector Dead At 78
By Jason Hall
January 12, 2022
Ronnie Spector, the trailblazing lead singer of the popular girl group, The Ronettes, has reportedly died at the age of 78.
Spector's family confirmed the Be My Baby singer's passing "after a brief battle with cancer" to TMZ on Wednesday (January 12), adding that the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer died "in the arms of her husband," Jonathan Greenfield, who has also worked as her manager.
Spector, born Veronica Bennett, formed the legendary Ronettes with her sister, Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley in 1957, with the majority of their hits being produced by the singer's ex-husband Phil Spector, who she married in 1968 and separated in 1972.
The Ronettes dominated the pop charts in the 1960s with classics such as Be My Baby (1963), Baby, I Love You (1963), The Best Part of Breakin' Up and Walking in the Rain (1964) before Spector's solo debut hit So Young in 1964.
The Ronettes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 when fellow Hall of Famer, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards presented the group and recalled opening for the trio during a tour in England during the 1960s.
They could sing all their way right through a wall of sound,” Richards said via the Associated Press. “They didn’t need anything. They touched my heart right there and then and they touch it still.”
Spector released Last of the Rock Stars in 2006, which served as her first solo album in 19 years, and her final album, English Heart, in 2016.
THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY AND WILL BE UPDATED.