Betty Wright at a Glance

Betty Wright was an American soul singer who helped originate what became known as the Miami Sound – a blend of soul and funk with Caribbean influences – in the 70s. Her smash hit Clean Up Woman sold over six million copies worldwide and was, just months after Betty’s death in 2020, inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Clean Up Woman, along with her lover’s anthem Tonight Is The Night from her platinum-selling Live album in 1978, continue to be frequently sampled by rap and hip hop artists today. Betty’s embrace of rap won her fans and collaborations with the likes of Snoop Dogg and Lil’ Wayne. 

In the 80s, Betty became the first African-American woman to go gold on her own label when she released the Mother Wit album on her Ms. B Records. The album spawned the hits No Pain, No Gain and the family-reunion favorite After The Pain. Betty continued to record and tour up until her death. In the 90s, she challenged the producers of Color Me Badd’s smash I Wanna Sex You Up for sampling her voice and stealing the baseline and melody to Betty’s self-penned Tonight Is The Night without permission. She and her co-writer were given 50 percent of the songwriting royalties for the song. Betty also acted as a vocal coach to the likes of Gloria Estefan and Jennifer Lopez as well as for the group Danity Kane when she appeared on Diddy’s MTV show Making The Band. She also, with her partner Angelo Morris, produced acts such as Millie Jackson, saxophonist Ronnie Laws and British superstar Joss Stone.

Betty won a Grammy in 1975 and was nominated six additional times throughout her life. She also picked up an American Music Award nomination – she lost to Aretha Franklin – and received the Rhythm & Blues Foundation’s Pioneer Award, Billboard’s R&B Founders Award, and Jack the Rapper’s Florence Ballard Award for unsung artists. And speaking of Unsung, Betty’s own episode of the TV One documentary series aired just months before she passed of cancer on May 10, 2020.

Upon her passing, praise poured in from music industry insiders she had worked with and influenced, including John Legend, who called her “always relevant,” Ledisi, who said she was “a master teacher” and Patti LaBelle, who declared that Betty was “one of the very best to ever do this thing called music.”