Betty Wright Dies: Influential Singer For ‘Clean Up Woman’ And Grammy Winner Was 66

Bruce Haring
·2 min read

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Betty Wright, an influential singer whose soulful voice won her a Grammy Award for Where Is The Love, has died at age 66. No cause of death was revealed by her niece, who confirmed her death.

Beyond performing, Wright operated her own record label, Mrs. B Records, and her own publishing company, Miami Spice.

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Born Bessie Regina Norris in Miami, Florida, in December 1953, Wright began singing gospel music. She was 18 years old when she first hit the charts with the 1971 song Clean Up Woman, which became her signature song. She later recorded the chart hits No Pain (No Gain) and Mother Wit, achieving a gold record for the latter on her own label.

Singer Chaka Khan had asked for prayers for Wright earlier this month. Wright was still an influence, being referenced as late as March in the TV show Unsung by DJ Khaled and Lil Wayne for her song, Tonight Is the Tonight.

Other Wright hits included Let Me Be Your Lovermaker and Shoorah Shoorah. Her Clean Up Woman was also sampled for the remix of Mary J. Blige’s Real Love. The song was also sampled by Afrika Bambaataa and Sublime.
Wright also appeared on the Making the Band reality series as a vocal coach, and partnered with The Roots for the album Betty Wright: The Movie.
In the 2000s, Wright was further Grammy nominated after co-producing Joss Stone’s first two albums. Wright performed with Stone on the song, The Art of Love and War.
In 2010, Williams was awarded the International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA) Lifetime Achievement Award.

No details on a memorial service have been announced.

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