Fontella Bass, a gospel, blues and soul singer known to most of the music world as a one-hit wonder for "Rescue Me," died Wednesday of complications from an earlier heart attack. She was 72.
She had been in declining health in recent years, though she had continued to perform until a stroke in 2005. She had experienced a modest career revival with a 2001 PBS special on soul music.
Bass also spent much of her life trying to secure royalties for the 1965 million-seller "Rescue Me," on which her cowriting credit had been omitted.
She often said that battle had harmed her music career, giving her "a reputation as a troublemaker."
"Rescue Me" was a heavily gospel-influenced soul record, reflecting Bass's own upbringing. Her mother Martha was one of the original Clara Ward Singers, a famed gospel group, and she grew up singing gospel.
She was spotted in the early 1960s by Little Milton, a famous St. Louis blues singer, and joined his band for two years. She originally played keyboards, but when Milton was a no-show one night, she filled in on vocals.
She left his band after two years and began recording solo and in duets with Bobby McClure.
Their recording of "Don't Mess Up a Good Thing" was a top-five R&B hit before she recorded "Rescue Me."
Her follow-ups to "Rescue Me" did not sell well, and she moved with her husband Lester and four children to France in 1969.
She went into semi-retirement in 1972, coming back occasionally for gigs like singing backup on her husband's 1981 "The Great Pretender" album.
She resumed her own career in the 1990s, winning respect for her early recordings. She also won some of her royalties and a lawsuit against American Express for using "Rescue Me" in a commercial without permission.
She is predeceased by her brother David Peaston, a gospel and R&B singer. She is survived by her four children. Her husband died in 1999.
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Monday, December 31st 2012 at 5:42PM
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