1/ Veronica "Ronnie" Bennett Spector August 10 1943 - January 12 2022
2/ Spanish Harlem's own. Lead singer of the iconic Ronettes. New York girl. big hair always. big big Leo energy
3/ Veronica married Phil Spector in 1968 and became Ronnie Spector. He was deeply abusive — physically, mentally, professionally. the details involve violence closets broken glass waving guns bare feet and hidden shoes.
4/ The Ronettes — Ronnie, sister Estelle and cousin Nedra Talley — won with 1963’s “Be My Baby.” note: the great Darlene Love is on background vocals.
5/ Darlene Love is Darlene Wright, sister of Edna Wright of Honey Cone, who went to the top of the pop charts with the perfect and platinum “Want Ads.” Ray Parker Jr. on guitar, mind you.
6/ Along with Darlene on background is @cher, at 17. as well as Cher's then-guy, Sonny Bono. it's a whole thing!
7/ “Be My Baby,” is a No. 2 pop hit. Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson has called the song his greatest inspiration, and the “greatest record ever produced.” In 2017, Billboard named it as No. 1 on its list of the greatest girl group songs of all-time
8/ Because of their light racial look, the Ronettes' song can appear to be outside of the black girl group pantheon. BUT IT IS SQUARELY WITHIN IT.
9/ I'm so tired of every every single everything the Ronettes did being completely tied up in Phil.
10/ he's a producer lifted to genius by a creative/culture establishment that treated Black women performers as interchangeable while celebrating white male creativity as super singular and very special.
11/ like, can we stop: dude (he died last January in a California state prison) is an abuser and convicted murderer
12/ read this, just to get a taste bpr.org/post/voices-bl…
13/ i'm sad. and i'm mad. i really like when Black women receive the credit we are due. Veronica and her persona, Ronnie, got a lot of credit, sure, yes. But it is not commensurate with her impact on culture.
14/ i'm not super big on angel imagery or 'pearly' gates. but whatever Heaven is, I know Ronnie is up there with her wings. getting her peaceful rest and singing only when she feels like it. bless her and the culture that made her
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