b. 8th November 1947, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
d. 12th July 1979, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Minnie Riperton hailed from Chicago, Illinois, originally.
Minnie was the youngest of eight children.
She studied classical music as a child and developed a five-octave vocal range and originally intended to become an opera singer.
Minnie was a former singer with the group the Gems whose debut recording 'That's What They Put Erasers On Pencils For' was released on Chess Records.
The group additionally worked as in-house backing vocalists for the Chess artists Ramsey Lewis, Etta James, The Dells and Fontella Bass.
Minnie recorded under the name Andrea Davis prior to joining the group Rotary Connection.
She remained with this black psychedelic group between 1967 and 1970, before embarking on a solo career.
Janus Records signed her in the early 70's, and she recorded a solo album entitled 'Come To My Garden' before meeting Richard Rudolph and marrying him.
In 1973, Minnie began working with Wonderlove, Stevie Wonder's backing group.
Two years later he returned this compliment, producing her 'Perfect Angel' album, and contributing two original compositions on the set.
'Loving You', a song written by Minnie and her husband Richard Rudolph, brought her international success, reaching the US number 1 spot and the UK number 2 chart position in 1975.
In 1975 she released the album 'Adventures In Paradise', even though having been attacked by a lion which wasn't the one that appears on the front of the album sleeve, but one recorded for promotion purposes at a different stage!
Minnie escaped serious injury.
Her final Epic album was 'Stay In Love' in 1977, which included 'Can You Feel What I'm Saying?' and 'Young, Willing And Able'.
At this point she had realized she was suffering from malignant breast cancer and in 1978, Minnie became chairman of the American Cancer Society.
Minnie died from cancer on the 12th of July 1979.
It was reported that during her final days, Minnie had a bad reaction to the pain killing drugs administered to her, so she was allowed to use marijuana to alleviate the situation.
Minnie also recorded with Deniece Williams, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder ('Fulfillingness First Finale', 1974, and 'Ordinary Pain', 1975) and Quincy Jones (lead on 'If I Ever Lose This Heaven' from Body Heat, 1975).
The sleevenotes (from the likes of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack etc) on the 1980 album 'Love Lives Forever', testify to the high regard Minnie was held in within the music scene.
Albums:
Perfect Angel (Epic 1974)
Come To My Garden - recorded in 1969 (Janus 1974)
Adventures In Paradise (Epic 1975)
Stay In Love (Epic 1977)
Minnie (Capitol 1979)
Love Lives Forever (Capitol 1980)
