[死訊] Vesta Williams (1957/12/1-2011/9/22)
http://tinyurl.com/43l2mns
Vesta Williams, R&B Singer and Actress, Dies at 53
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 24, 2011
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Vesta Williams, a rhythm and blues singer and
later an actress who had hits in the 1980s with “Don't Blow a Good Thing”
and “Congratulations,” was found dead on Thursday in a hotel room here.
She was 53.
The cause may have been a drug overdose, said Capt. John Kades of the Los
Angeles County coroner’s office.
Ms. Williams had hits with “Once Bitten Twice Shy,” “Sweet, Sweet Love”
and the torch song “Congratulations,” in which she emotionally bids
goodbye to her former lover, who is about to marry someone else, on his
wedding day. (“I thought it would have been me/Standin’ here with you.”)
She also appeared in movies and on television. She was a saloon singer in the
Mario Van Peebles movie “Posse” in 1993, and she had a recurring role on
the television situation comedy “Sister, Sister,” playing the actress
Jackee Harry’s best friend, Monica.
Ms. Williams’s initial success in the music industry came as a background
singer for Chaka Khan, Anita Baker and Sting, among others. She released her
first album, “Vesta,” in 1986.
Standing 5-feet-3, she gained weight in the 1990s, ballooning to a size 26,
then went on a dramatic weight loss program, losing 100 pounds and getting
down to a size 6.
She told Ebony magazine in 1996 that she began gaining weight rapidly after
her singing career started to falter. She blamed her size for the loss of her
recording contract.
“When I lost my record deal, and my phone wasn’t ringing, I realized that I
had to reassess who Vesta was and figure out what was going wrong,” she
said. “I knew it wasn’t my singing ability. So it had to be that I was
expendable because I didn’t have the right look.”
She went on to become an advocate for the prevention of childhood obesity and
juvenile diabetes.
Mary Vesta Williams was born on Dec. 1, 1957, to a disc jockey in Coshocton,
Ohio. She is survived by an adult daughter.
Ms. Williams had been scheduled to perform on Oct. 22 at the 21st annual “
DIVAS Simply Singing!” concert in Los Angeles, held to promote AIDS and HIV
awareness. The show will pay tribute to her and another soul singer, Teena
Marie, who died last December.
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Vesta Discography
1986 Vesta (A&M)
1988 Vesta 4 U (A&M)
1991 Special (A&M)
1993 Everything-N-More (A&M)
1998 Relationships (I.E./PolyGram)
2007 Distant Lover (Shanachie)
R.I.P.
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※ 編輯: orangepekoe 來自: 59.104.164.18 (10/04 21:31)
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