St.
Louis-born soul singer Fontella Bass has died at 72.
Bass, who hit the top of the R&B charts with Rescue Me in 1965,
died on Wednesday night at a St. Louis hospice of complications from a
heart attack suffered three weeks ago, her daughter, Neuka Mitchell,
said. Bass had also suffered a series of strokes over the past seven
years.
'She was an outgoing person,' Mitchell
said of her mother. 'She had a very big personality. Any room she
entered she just lit the room up, whether she was on stage or just going
out to eat.'
Bass was born into a family with
deep musical roots. Her mother was gospel singer Martha Bass, one of
the Clara Ward Singers. Her younger brother, David Peaston, had a string
of R&B hits in the 1980s and 1990s. Peaston died in February at age
54.
Bass' began performing at a young age,
singing in her church's choir at age 6. She was surrounded by music,
often traveling on national tours with her mother and her gospel group.
Her
interest
turned from gospel to R&B when she was a teenager and she
began her professional career at the Showboat Club in north St. Louis at
age 17. She eventually auditioned for Chess Records and landed a
recording contract, first as a duet artist. Her duet with Bobby McClure,
Don't Mess Up a Good Thing, reached No. 5 on the R&B charts and
No. 33 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1965.
Soul singer: The star performing on stage in London, England, circa 1972
She
co-wrote and later that year recorded Rescue Me, reaching No. 1 on the
R&B charts and No. 4 on the Billboard pop singles chart. Bass's
powerful voice bore a striking resemblance to that of Aretha Franklin,
who is often misidentified as the singer of that chart-topping hit.
Bass
had a few other modest hits but by her own accounts developed a
reputation as a troublemaker because she demanded more artistic control,
and more money for her songs. She haggled over royalty rights to
"Rescue Me" for years before reaching a settlement in the late 1980s,
Mitchell said.
She sued American Express over the use of Rescue Me in a
commercial, settling for an undisclosed amount in 1993.
Heath battle: Fontella, pictured in 2001, died
from complications from a heart attack suffered three weeks ago. She had
also suffered a series of strokes over the past seven years
Rescue
Me has been covered by many top artists, including Linda Ronstadt,
Cher, Melissa Manchester and Pat Benatar. Franklin eventually sang a
form of it too - as Deliver Me in a Pizza Hut TV ad in 1991.
Bass
lived briefly in Europe before returning to St. Louis in the early
1970s, where she and husband Lester Bowie raised their family. She
recorded occasionally, including a 1995 gospel album, No Ways Tired,
that earned a Grammy nomination.
Bass was inducted into the St. Louis Hall of Fame in 2000.
Funeral arrangements for Bass were incomplete. She is survived by four children. Bowie died in 1999.
Hit record: Fontella is most famous for her track Rescue Me