Ronnie Spector

Ronnie Spector

Ronnie Spector is a singer from East Harlem, United States, best known as the lead singer of The Ronettes, the 1960s girl group associated with the song “Be My Baby”. Born Veronica Yvette Bennett in 1943, she dies in 2022. Her work sits in rock and roll and soul, and she is also associated with pop, punk, alternative rock and oldies.

Career with The Ronettes

She fronts The Ronettes and becomes identified with their best-known recording, “Be My Baby”. Her voice also becomes closely linked with the group’s role in 1960s pop and girl-group music.

Solo career and later recordings

After leaving her marriage to producer Phil Spector, she continues trying to rebuild her singing career while raising her son. Several attempts do not break through commercially. In 1976 she records “Say Goodbye to Hollywood”, written by Billy Joel and backed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, but it does not chart. Her 1980 album Siren, produced by Genya Ravan, includes a Ramones cover.

In 1986, Eddie Money features her on the hit single “Take Me Home Tonight”, where she sings the “be my baby” line in the chorus. Her EP She Talks to Rainbows is produced by Joey Ramone and includes a duet with him. In 2003, she releases Something’s Gonna Happen through her website, a five-song EP of Marshall Crenshaw songs recorded in 1989. Her 2006 album Last of the Rock Stars includes contributions from Keith Richards, Patti Smith, the Raveonettes and others, as well as a cover of a Johnny Thunders song. In 2011 she releases her version of Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black”. In 2016 she releases English Heart through 429 Records, her first album of new material in a decade.

Personal life

She is the ex-wife of producer Phil Spector. Her later life and career are shaped by her leaving that relationship and resuming recording and touring work.

Other activity

She is also a member of The Asbury Park All-Star Revue.