Betty Wright › Similar Artists

Millie Jackson - 100% match to Betty Wright

15 July 1944, Thompson, Georgia, USA. A former model, Millie Jackson’s controversial singing career began professionally in 1964 at a club in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA. Her first recordings followed in 1970; over the next three years she made several excellent, if traditional, soul singles, which included two US R&B Top 10 entries, with ‘Ask Me What You Want Read more

Ann Peebles - 82% match to Betty Wright

27 April 1947, East St. Louis, Missouri, USA. An impromptu appearance at the Rosewood Club in Memphis led to Peebles’ recording contract. Band leader Gene Miller took the singer to producer Willie Mitchell, whose skills fashioned an impressive debut single, ‘Walk Away’ (1969). Peebles’ style was more fully shaped with ‘Part Time Love’ (1970), an Read more

Laura Lee - 82% match to Betty Wright

Laura Lee Newton, 9 March 1945, Chicago, Illinois, USA. A member of her adopted mother’s, Ernestine Rundless’, gospel group the Meditation Singers, Lee’s first secular recording was made for the Detroit-based Ric-Tic label. She was signed to Chess Records in 1966, who, after failing to find success with a Chicago-recorded single, sent her to Rick Hall’s F Read more

Gwen McCrae - 78% match to Betty Wright

21 December 1943, Pensacola, Florida, USA. The wife of George McCrae, Gwen made her mark in the mid-70s with a delightful series of southern-style soul numbers produced by Steve Alaimo and Clarence Reid for Henry Stone’s Miami-based TK operation. She first found success with a remarkable remake of the old Bobby Bland gospel blues, ‘Lead Me On’ (R&B number Read more

Shirley Brown - 74% match to Betty Wright

Tyrone Davis - 60% match to Betty Wright

4 May 1938, Greenville, Mississippi, USA, d. 9 February 2005, Hinsdale, Illinois, USA. One of the great unsung talents of soul music, Davis was a consistent chart-maker for over 20 years. This former Freddie King valet was discovered working in Chicago nightclubs by pianist Harold Burrage, and began recording in 1965 as Tyrone The Wonder Boy. ‘Can I Change My Mind’ Read more

Bettye Swann - 58% match to Betty Wright

Betty Jean Champion, 24 October 1944, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA. This superior singer first recorded during the early 60s as a member of the Fawns. A Carolyn Franklin song, ‘Don’t Wait Too Long’, provided Swann with a solo hit in 1965, but her career was more fully launched two years later with a US R&B chart-topper, the beautiful ‘Make Me Yours’ Read more

Stephanie Mills - 54% match to Betty Wright

22 March 1957, Brooklyn, New York, USA. Mills found early fame at the age of nine, winning an influential talent show at Harlem’s famous Apollo Theatre for six weeks running. Soon afterwards, she appeared on Broadway in the play Maggie Flynn. She toured with the Isley Brothers, and in 1973, recorded her debut, Movin’ In The Right Direction, for the Paramount label. Read more

Syl Johnson - 52% match to Betty Wright

Sylvester Thompson, 1 July 1936, Holly Springs, Mississippi, USA. Johnson was the youngest of three children and his family moved to Chicago during the late 40s. An elder brother, Mac Thompson, played bass with the Magic Sam Blues Band. Having learned guitar and harmonica, Johnson began frequenting the city’s southside blues clubs, playing alongside Howlin’ Wolf, M Read more

Teddy Pendergrass - 51% match to Betty Wright

Theodore Pendergrass, 26 March 1950, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Pendergrass joined Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes in 1969, when they invited his group, the Cadillacs, to work as backing musicians. Initially their drummer, Pendergrass had become the featured vocalist within a year. His ragged, passionate interpretations brought distinction to such releases as ‘I Read more

Johnnie Taylor - 48% match to Betty Wright

5 May 1938, Crawfordsville, Arkansas, USA, d. 31 May 2000, Dallas, Texas, USA. Having left home at the age of 15, Taylor surfaced as part of several gospel groups, including the Five Echoes and the Highway QCs. In 1956 he joined the Soul Stirrers, replacing Sam Cooke on the latter’s recommendation. Taylor switched to secular music in 1961; releases on Cooke’s Sar a Read more

Marlena Shaw - 48% match to Betty Wright

Marlina Burgess, 22 September 1944, New Rochelle, New York, USA. At the age of 10 Shaw made a modestly successful appearance at the Apollo theatre but her mother ruled against the little girl going on tour with her uncle, trumpeter Jimmy Burgess. She began working in the New Rochelle area, developing into a cocktail lounge-type jazz singer who occasionally ventured onto the Read more

Teena Marie - 48% match to Betty Wright

Mary Christine Brockert, 5 March 1957, Santa Monica, California, USA. A singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer, Teena Marie is rightly fêted as one of the few white artists to sustain a consistent career in the US soul market. Spotted by Motown Records’ Berry Gordy in the 70s, he linked her up with funk star and labelmate Rick James, and h Read more

The Isley Brothers - 46% match to Betty Wright

Three brothers, O’Kelly (25 December 1937, d. 31 March 1986), Rudolph (b. 1 April 1939) and Ronald Isley (b. 21 May 1941), began singing gospel in their home-town of Cincinnati, USA, in the early 50s, accompanied by their brother Vernon, who died in a car crash around 1957. Moving to New York the following year, the trio issued one-off singles before being signed by the Read more

Candi Staton - 45% match to Betty Wright

Candi Staton-Sussewell, 13 March 1940, Hanceville, Alabama, USA. A former member of the Jewel Gospel Trio, Staton left the group, and her first husband, for a secular career. She was then discovered performing at a club by Clarence Carter, who took the singer to the Fame Records label. Carter wrote her debut hit, the uncompromising ‘I’d Rather Be An Old Man’s Read more