Maya rudolph parents

African American singer (–)

Minnie Riperton
Riperton in
Born	Minnie Julia Riperton[1][2][3] ()November 8, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	July 12, () (aged&#;31) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Westwood Village Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other&#;names	Andrea Davis
Occupations
Years&#;active	–
Notable work	"Lovin' You"
Spouse
Children	2, including Maya Rudolph
Musical career
Genres
Instrument	Vocals
Labels
Musical artist

Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph (November 8, – July 12, )^[4][5] was an American soul singer and songwriter best known for her single "Lovin' You", her five-octave vocal range, and her use of the whistle register.^[6]

Born in , Riperton grew up in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side.

As a child, she studied music, drama and dance at Chicago's Abraham Lincoln Center.^[7] In her teen years, she sang lead vocals for the Chicago-based girl group The Gems. Her early affiliation with the Chicago-based Chess Records afforded her the opportunity to sing backing vocals for various established artists such as Etta James, Fontella Bass, Ramsey Lewis, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters.

While at Chess, Riperton also sang lead for the psychedelic soul band Rotary Connection from to

On April 5, , Riperton reached the pinnacle of her career with her No. 1 single "Lovin' You". The single was the last release from her gold album titled Perfect Angel. In January , Riperton was diagnosed with breast cancer; in April, she underwent a radical mastectomy.^[4][8] By the time of diagnosis, the cancer had metastasized and she was given about six months to live.

All About Maya Rudolphs Parents, Minnie Riperton and Richard ... She famously used the whistle register when singing, and has been referred to as the 'Queen of the whistle register'. Archived from the original on June 22, The Wrap. Tools Tools.

Despite the prognosis, she continued recording and touring. She was one of the first celebrities to go public with a breast cancer diagnosis, but she did not disclose that she was terminally ill. In , she became a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society. In , she received the American Cancer Society's Courage Award, which was presented to her at the White House by President Jimmy Carter.

Riperton died of breast cancer on July 12, , at the age of

Early life

Minnie Julia Riperton was born in Chicago, the daughter of Thelma Inez (née Matthews) (–) and Daniel Webster Riperton (–), a Pullman porter.^[9][10] The youngest of eight children in a musical family, she embraced the arts early.

Although she began with ballet and modern dance, her parents recognized her vocal and musical abilities and encouraged her to pursue music and voice training. At Chicago's Abraham Lincoln Center, she received operatic vocal training from Marion Jeffery. She practiced breathing and phrasing, with particular emphasis on diction.

Jeffery also trained Riperton to use her full range. While studying under Jeffery, she sang operettas and show tunes, in preparation for a career in opera. Jeffery was so convinced of her pupil's abilities that she strongly pushed her to further study the classics at Chicago's Junior Lyric Opera. The young Riperton was, however, becoming interested in soul, rhythm and blues, and rock.

After graduating from Hyde Park High School (now Hyde Park Academy High School), she enrolled at Loop College, now named Harold Washington College, and became a member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority. She dropped out of college to pursue her music career.

Career

Early career

Riperton's first professional singing engagement was with The Gems, when she was Raynard Miner, a blind pianist, heard her singing during her stint with Hyde Park's A Cappella Choir and became her musical patron.

The Gems had relatively limited commercial success, but proved to be a good outlet for Riperton's talent. Eventually the group became a session group known as Studio Three and it was during this period that they provided the backing vocals on the classic Fontella Bass hit "Rescue Me".^[11] In , The Gems released a local hit, I Can't Help Myself, and their last single, He Makes Me Feel So Good, was released in The Gems later released records under numerous names—most notably 's Baby I Want You by the Girls Three and 's My Baby's Real by the Starlets.

The latter has achieved cult status with northern soul fans and remains a favorite. It was a Motown-style song reminiscent of Tammi Terrell. In , Watered Down was released as a follow-up, under the name The Starlets. It was the last release of Riperton's former girl group.

Minnie riperton biography maya rudolphs mother Writers Guild of America Award. Retrieved February 6, Retrieved May 7, Riperton and Richard recorded a demo of the song while living in Gainesville — but had no intentions of going public with the track.

While a part of Studio Three, Riperton met her mentor, producer Billy Davis, who wrote her first local hit, "Lonely Girl", as well as its B-side, "You Gave Me Soul".^[12] In honor of Davis, she used the pseudonym Andrea Davis for the release of those two singles.

Rotary Connection

Main article: Rotary Connection

In , some months after her Andrea Davis singles hit the radio, Riperton joined Rotary Connection, a funky rock-soul group creation of Marshall Chess, the son of Chess Records founder Leonard Chess.

Rotary Connection consisted of Riperton, Chess, Judy Hauff, Sidney Barnes, and Charles Stepney. They released their debut album Rotary Connection in and, subsequently, five more albums: 's Aladdin and Christmas album Peace, Songs (), Dinner Music (), and Hey Love ().

In Riperton, along with Rotary Connection, played in the first Catholic Rock Mass at the Liturgical Conference National Convention, Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, WI, produced by James F.

Colaianni.

Come to My Garden

Riperton's debut solo album entitled Come to My Garden was produced, arranged, as well as orchestrated by her Rotary Connection band mate Charles Stepney and released in by GRT Records. Several of the songs were co-written by Stepney and Richard Rudolph, who married Riperton in August She was presented as a solo artist by Ramsey Lewis on Saturday, December 26, , at Chicago's famed London House.

Riperton went on to perform several numbers from the album while accompanied by Stepney. Although the record was not commercially successful at the time of its release, Come to My Garden is now acclaimed by music critics.^[4]

Perfect Angel and "Lovin' You"

Main article: Lovin' You

In , a college intern for Epic Records found Riperton in semi-retirement.

She had become a homemaker and a mother of two in Gainesville, Florida. After he heard a demo of the song "Seeing You This Way", the rep took the tape to Don Ellis, VP of A&R for Epic. Riperton signed with Epic Records, and the family moved to Los Angeles, California. The subsequent record, Perfect Angel, became one of Riperton's best-selling albums.

Included were the rock-soul anthem "Reasons"; the second single, "Take a Little Trip" (written by Stevie Wonder, who also coproduced the album); and the third single, "Seeing You This Way". Sales of the album started out slow. Epic was ready to move on to the next record, but Rudolph convinced them to release another single. With the fourth single, "Lovin' You", the album caught on, and in April , the song went to the top of the charts in the U.S.

and 24 other countries. The song reached no. 2 in the UK Singles Chart, and number three on the U.S. R&B charts. It sold more than one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA in April ^[13]Perfect Angel went gold and Riperton was finally revered as the "lady with the high voice and flowers in her hair." The album also featured the song "Every Time He Comes Around", with Deniece Williams singing the background vocals.

Later career

After Perfect Angel, Riperton and her husband, songwriter and music producer Richard Rudolph started on Riperton's third album, Adventures in Paradise ().

Minnie riperton biography maya rudolphs mother mother and father Rudolph has been in a relationship with filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson since Use limited data to select advertising. Minnie Riperton was one of the first celebrities to come forward about her breast cancer, which she disclosed on The Tonight Show on August 24, I used to think, 'Oh, they're staring at my hair, because it's so big and ugly.

Joe Sample of The Crusaders cowrote the title song, "Adventures in Paradise", and Crusaders producer Stewart Levine co-produced the album. While shooting a promotional clip for the album, she was attacked by a lion, but was not seriously injured. During an appearance on The Sammy Davis Jr. Show, she played the footage of the incident for Sammy and her fellow guests, including Richard Pryor.

The album was a modest success. Despite the R&B hit "Inside My Love" (a no. 5 U.S. R&B hit, later covered by Trina Broussard, Chanté Moore, and Delilah), the album did not match the success of Perfect Angel. Some radio stations refused to play "Inside My Love" due to the lyrics: "Will you come inside me?"

Her fourth album for Epic Records, titled Stay in Love (), featured another collaboration with Stevie Wonder in the funky disco tune "Stick Together".

In , Richard Rudolph and Riperton's attorney Mike Rosenfeld orchestrated a move to Capitol Records for Riperton and her CBS Records catalog. In April , Riperton released her fifth and final album, Minnie. "Memory Lane" was a hit from the album.

Collaborations

Riperton provided backing vocals on Stevie Wonder's songs "Creepin'" and "It Ain't No Use" from 's Fulfillingness' First Finale and "Ordinary Pain" from 's Songs in the Key of Life.

In , she lent her vocal abilities to a track named "Yesterday and Karma" on Osamu Kitajima's album, Osamu.^[14]

Personal life

Riperton was married to songwriter and music producer Richard Rudolph from August until her death in July Together, Riperton and Rudolph had two children: music engineer Marc Rudolph (born ) and actress and comedian Maya Rudolph (born ), a Saturday Night Live cast member from to ^[15][16] Maya was a toddler when "Lovin' You" was recorded.

According to the liner notes from Riperton's Petals compilation CD, the melody to "Lovin' You" was created as a distraction for Maya when she was a baby so that Riperton and Richard Rudolph could spend time together. Near the end of the unedited "Lovin' You", Riperton sings "Maya, Maya, Maya".^[4]

Illness and death

On August 24, , Riperton revealed on The Tonight Show that she had undergone a mastectomy due to breast cancer.^[4] At the time of her diagnosis, Riperton found out her cancer had already spread to the lymphatic system, and she was given about six months to live.^[4] She continued touring in and , and she became the national spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society's – campaign.^[4] During the recording of her final non-posthumous album, Minnie, her cancer progressed to the point that she was in a great deal of pain.^[4] Extreme lymphedema immobilized her right arm in early In her final singing appearances on television (most notably on the Mike Douglas Show), her right arm remained in a fixed position during her performances.^[4] Near her death, in concert, she changed the end of "Lovin' You", "Maya, Maya, Maya" to "Maya, Maya, Ringo, Maya." Ringo was her nickname for her son, Marc.

By mid-June, Riperton was confined to bed. She entered Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on July

On Thursday, July 12, , at am, she died in the arms of her husband. That Sunday, following a funeral service attended by more than five hundred mourners, Riperton was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Her epitaph is the opening line of her most famous song: "Lovin' you is easy 'cause you're beautiful". Stevie Wonder paid tribute to Riperton during an episode of the TV show Soul Train, which aired shortly after her death in September ^[17] On June 7, , TV One (US TV network's) Unsung series premièred a one-hour documentary on Riperton's career and life.

It included her husband Richard, son Marc, daughter Maya, sister Sandra Riperton, and many others who worked with her.^[4]

Posthumous releases

After Riperton died, several artists contributed vocals to tracks she had recorded before her death, to help compile Richard Rudolph's final tribute to his wife, Love Lives Forever.

Included, among others, were Peabo Bryson, Michael Jackson, and Stevie Wonder. Riperton's last single, "Give Me Time", was released in Richard Rudolph wrote the song, "Now That I Have You" for her, but she never got the chance to record it; he gave the song to Teena Marie, who recorded it (and co-produced it with Rudolph) on Marie's second LP, Lady T.

Finally, in , Capitol Records released The Best of Minnie Riperton, a greatest hits collection. The "new" song on the album was a remake of Joni Mitchell's "A Woman of Heart and Mind", which was a holdover from the Minnie sessions.

Minnie riperton biography maya rudolphs mother hit song Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Riperton was diagnosed with breast cancer in January of , and underwent a radical mastectomy. Entertainment Now Staff. Archived from the original on November 28,

Also included were an alternate mix of "Memory Lane"; live versions of "Can You Feel What I'm Saying", "Lover And Friend", and "Young, Willing, and Able"; and two "Moments with Minnie". It also included the hits "Perfect Angel", "Lovin' You", "Inside My Love", "Adventures In Paradise", and two tracks from Love Lives Forever: the single "Here We Go" (a duet with Peabo Bryson),^[18] and the song "You Take My Breath Away".

During the s, Riperton's music was sampled by rap and hip-hop artists including Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, A Tribe Called Quest, Blumentopf, the Orb and Tragedy Khadafi.^[4]

Vocal ability

Riperton's official "press bio" reported that she had a coloratura soprano vocal range.^[19] Aside from her various hits, she is also remembered for her ability to sing in high head voice (occasionally the whistle register which is often mistakenly confused with the former), in which she had rare facility.^[20] In , Rolling Stone ranked Riperton at number 65 on its list of the Greatest Singers of All Time.^[21]

Mariah Carey cited Riperton as one of her musical influences.^[22]

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Accolades

Grammy Awards

Riperton received a sum of two Grammy nominations.^[33]

Tours

• George & Minnie Live! (–77)

Riperton joined with established jazz guitarist George Benson, to kick-off a co-headlining North American concert tour.

The tour ran from through the fall of ^[34][35]

Set list

Notes

• On select dates during the tour, Riperton's performance of her hit song "Lovin' You" included a reprise version that featured George Benson.
• Riperton performed "Can You Feel What I'm Saying?" only at select dates during the tour.

Dates

Date	City	Venue
March 15,	Los Angeles	Los Angeles Music Center
May 9,	New York City	Avery Fisher Hall
July 15,	East Troy, WI	Alpine Valley Music Theatre
July 29,	Edwardsville, IL	Mississippi River Festival
October 7,	Phoenix, AZ	Celebrity Theatre
October 29,	Burlington, VT	Patrick Gymnasium

• Not all North American dates are listed.

References

External links