According to billboard.com, Mable John, the first ever solo female artist signed by Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, has passed away at the age of 91 years old. The R&B singer passed away in her home in Los Angeles on Thursday, August 25th, according to her nephew, Kevin John. “We loved her and she was a kind person,” Kevin John stated of his aunt. On top of being the first solo female artist signed to Motown, Mable John had also recorded hit songs for Stax Records as well as being a singer in Ray Charles’ Raelettes backing band. Mable John was born on November 3rd, 1930 in Bastrop, Louisiana as the oldest of nine children. She grew up in the South prior to moving to Detroit in the 1940’s. As a teen, she took a job working for Friendship Mutual Insurance Company which was founded by Bertha Gordy, the mother of aspiring music producer Berry Gordy. “He became my vocal coach, my manager and, within a couple of years, my record producer,” John stated to author Susan Whithall.
Gordy eventually arranged for John’s musical debut at Detroit’s Flame Show Bar where she opened for Billie Holiday in 1959. She then became the first solo female act to sign with Gordy’s Tamla Records which became Motown two years later in 1960. John left Motown in the mid 1960s in order to join Stax Records where she was able to release a handful of singles before departing and becoming the musical director and singer in Ray Charles’ Raelettes. John ultimately left the music business and became a minister, founding Los Angeles’ Joy Community Outreach, which help feed and clothe the homeless.
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