Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Happy Birthday: Minnie Riperton & T3

Minnie Riperton
(November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979)

Singer-songwriter Minnie Riperton was best known for her vocal range of five-and-a-half octaves and her 1975 single "Lovin' You". She was married to songwriter and music producer Richard Rudolph from 1972 until her death in the summer of 1979. They had two children - music engineer Marc Rudolph and actress/comedienne Maya Rudolph.

As a child, she studied music, drama, and dance at Chicago's Lincoln Center. In her teen years, she sang lead vocals for the Chicago-based girl group, The Gems. Her early affiliation with the legendary Chicago-based Chess Records afforded her the opportunity to sing backup for various established artist such as Etta James, Fontella Bass, Ramsey Lewis, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, and Muddy Waters. While at Chess, Riperton also sang lead for the experimental rock/soul group Rotary Connection, from 1967 to 1971. In 1969 Riperton, along with Rotary Connection, played in the first Catholic Rock Mass at the Liturgical Conference National Convention, Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, WI, produced by James F. Colaianni. Riperton reached the apex of her short, but esteemed, career with her number-one hit single, "Lovin' You," on April 4, 1975. The single was the last release from her 1974 gold album entitled Perfect Angel.

In January 1976 Riperton was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a radical mastectomy. By the time of diagnosis, the cancer had metastasized and she was given about six months to live. Despite the grim prognosis, she continued recording and touring. Riperton was one of the first celebrities to go public with her breast cancer diagnosis, but did not disclose that she was terminally ill. In 1977, she became spokesman for the American Cancer Society. In 1978, Riperton also received the American Cancer Society's Courage Award which was presented to her at the White House by President Jimmy Carter. On Thursday, July 12, 1979 at 10am, while lying in her husband's arms, Riperton died while listening to a recording Stevie Wonder had made for her. She was 31.





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Hailing from the Motor City, T-3 was one third of the legendary Slum Village, with the late J-Dilla and Baatin. All three helped bring Detroit Hip-Hop and rap to gain national attention for themselves and to help open the gates for local rap artists as well.

In 2006 he released a solo mixtape titled "The Olio" and finally comes back for 2011 with 3iLLA, that dropped on June 21st.

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