Soul Singer Fontella Bass Dead at 72

[bold] 'Rescue Me' singer suffered a heart attack [/bold] St. Louis-based R&B singer Fontella Bass – best known for her 1965 hit "Rescue Me" – died Wednesday after a heart attack, KSDK reports. She was 72. Born in St. Louis in June 1940, Bass first reached ears earlier in 1965 with the successful single "Don't Mess With A Good Thing," with Bobby McClure. "Rescue Me" topped the R&B charts for a month and held steady in the top five of the pop charts as well. Bass' first record, The New Look, was released in 1966 by Chess Records. While she never found another hit like "Rescue Me," she continued to record throughout the Seventies. In 2001, she teamed up with the Voices of St. Louis for her last record, Travellin'. In 1993, Bass won a settlement against American Express and its advertising agency for using "Rescue Me" in an ad without proper permission.

http%3A//www.rollingstone.com/music/news/soul-singer-fontella-bass-dead-at-72-20121227%23ixzz2GHBSUyvD



• It's a busy week.

  Grim%20Reaper

• Oh fuck!

  Barb B.

• We have our 3rd I guess, but she was a one-hit-wonder. A marginal 3rd, but I guess the gods will be satisfied. For now!

• I thought Fontella Bass was the name of the group.

• She greased the track for imitator Aretha Franklin to roar on through.

• It's still my favorite Aretha hit.

• I remember a commercial on TV that drove me INSANE. 'Rescue me, my tan is fading away, rescue me!' I have hated the song ever since.

• I was 10 years old when Fontella sang "Rascue Me." I remember it well. Great voice. RIP, Fontella.

• Another soul voice gone this year, to join Etta, Donna, Whitney ..... she may have been a one hit wonder, but its a great song that must have been on every soul compliation ever.

• I guess a 'what's on her iPod' thread is pretty pointless in this case.

  Rescue%20Me%2C%20duh%21

• Wow another person only two people have ever heard of and the other person is dead, at 72

• This is a racist thread. If it was a white singer that no one ever heard of, you wouldn't even have posted it.