The year 2020 hasn't been so kind to people. Aside from the COVID-19, a lot of music's greats have passed away in just one weekend. On Friday, May 8, we heard word of Andre Harrell's passing. He was definitely a key figure in the urban culture with his Uptown Records, which, basically kick started Sean Diddy Combs' and Mary J. Blige's career. His ex-wife, Wendy Credle, said he died of heart failure and that Andre had heart problems for a while, according to NY Times. What's crazy is that there was a miniseries about the rise of Andre's Uptown Records in the works for BET. It's still set to happen but of course the COVID-19 has slowed a lot of things down. Rest well, Andre. He was 59.
On Saturday, we learned the death of legendary Little Richard. The R&B legend became such and act and moved into the rock genre and became a founding father of rock & roll. He opened the door for his sound and brought all races together to embrace his music. He had hits like "Tutti Frutti" and "Good Golly Miss Molly." The rock legend died of bone cancer on Saturday, May 9 at the age of 87.
On Sunday, we heard word of Betty Wright. Last week, Chaka Khan posted on Twitter and requested for people to pray for the songstress. However, Betty died on Mother's Day. According to Miami New Times, Betty was considered Miami's first lady of soul. She died from a long battle with cancer at age 66. A lot of her songs were a bit racy, but were also sampled in the like of hip hop and other genres. Her music was sampled by 2Pac, Chance the Rapper, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige and more. You may have even heard Betty's voice as background vocals for DJ Khaled, Kendrick Lamar, Rick Ross, Nas, and the Game.
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