(Per TMZ)- Fontella Bass -- famous for her epic 1965 hit song "Rescue Me" -- died Wednesday in Missouri. She was 72. According
to Fontella's family, the singer passed away in a St. Louis hospital
from complications she suffered following a heart attack three weeks
ago. Bass also had several strokes since 2005.(Per Wikipedia)- The song "Rescue Me" shot up the charts in the fall and winter of 1965. After a month-long run at the top of the R&B charts, the song reached #4 at the pop charts and gave Chess its first million-selling single since Chuck Berry a decade earlier. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.
Bass followed with "Recovery," which did moderately well, peaking at #13 (R&B) and #37 (pop) in early 1966. The same year brought two more R&B hits, "I Can't Rest" (backed with "I Surrender)" and "You'll Never Know." Her only album with Chess Records, The New Look, sold reasonably well, but Bass soon became disillusioned with Chess and decided to leave the label after only two years, in 1967. By her own account, she was effectively cheated out of her royalties for "Rescue Me", which she had co-written with pianist Raynard Miner:
- "I had the first million seller for Chess since Chuck Berry about 10 years before. Things were riding high for them, but when it came time to collect my first royalty check, I looked at it, saw how little it was, tore it up and threw it back across the desk."
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