Motown legend Wanda Young has passed away from complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, her daughter has confirmed.
The Marvelettes singer died almost two weeks ago on December 15 as a result of COPD.
The star, who sang on the classic hit Please Mr Postman, was hailed a legend in the era.
Her daughter Meta Ventress shared the sad news of her mother to the New York Times.
Young joined the Marvelettes in time for them to sign their first record deal with Motown.
She then went on to become the lead singer in their later years after former members departed the group.
(Image: Getty Images)
She sang on their 1961 hit, Please Mr Postman, which surged in the charts to become no. 1 for Berry Gordy big picture.
It was also the first smash hit recorded by an all-female group.
The band helped put Motown on the map in the music world.
The iconic single Please Mr Postman went on to be covered by countless singers, stars, and bands, and even The Beatles released a version in the 1960s.
(Image: Michael Ochs Archives)
On the B-side of the record, Young featured lead vocals on the Marvelettes song ‘So Long, Baby’.
The star sang co-lead during their famous years alongside Gladys Horton who died in 2011 and helped on famous tunes such as Locking Up My Heart and Too Many Fish in the Sea.
She also led the way on I’ll Keep Holding On, Don’t Mess with Bill, When You’re Young and In Love, The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game and My Baby Must Be a Magician.
(Image: Michael Ochs Archives)
Please Mr Postman was recorded when the women were just teenagers, with Horton singing lead and Young backup.
Ms Young sang lead on Don’t Mess With Bill, which soared to no.7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1966, and was written by Smokey Robinson.
“Wanda had this little voice that was sexy to me, a little country kind of voice,” Mr. Robinson said in the music writer Fred Bronson’s liner notes to the 1993 Marvelettes compilation, “Deliver: The Singles (1961-1971).”
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He added: “I knew if I could get a song to her, it would be a smash.”
She left the group, who released more than 20 singles that hit the charts, in 1969 and ventured into a solo career through the early 70s.
Young (also known as Wanda Rogers) enjoyed a private life after leaving the music world behind later on in life.
(Image: Redferns)
Ms. Ventress said that her mother — who lived off her royalties in the years after the Marvelettes broke up — was sometimes surprised at the longevity of her music.
“I told her constantly, ‘All these people love you,’” Ms. Ventress said in an interview. “
And she’d say, ‘Wow.’”
She added, “She didn’t wake up every day thinking of the Marvelettes, but she never lost that glamour.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Her daughter says she passed away in Garden City, Michigan, ten days before Christmas.
The star, who wanted to be a pediatric nurse when she was younger, joined the group after an original member decided to leave.
Ms Young was married to Miracles’ Bobby Rogers for 12 years, and they shared two children together, Robert III and Bobbae Rogers.
The singer then had Ms Ventress from another relationship.
She is survived by three children, several grandchildren, a great-grandchild and her four brothers and four sisters.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
