Marvellete’s Wanda Young Passed Away At 78

Wanda Young, known for being the lead singer of the classic R&B group The Marvelettes has died at the age of 78. Her daughter Meta Ventress told The New York Times the cause for Young’s death was complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

In addition to Ventress, Young is survived by children Robert Rogers III and Bobbae Rogers with seven grandchildren and a great-grandson.

“We are so saddened by the news of Wanda Young of the Marvelettes passing,”

said the Classic Motown label and added,

“What an impact she has had on the world of Classic Motown and the lives of so many. Her legacy will continue to live on.”

“A very sad day for our [Motown] family and music fans all over the world,”

former Motown labelmate Claudette Robinson wrote in a message of her own and added,

“Wanda was a star on Earth and now she is a star in Heaven. Put on some Marvelettes and turn it up.”

Young didn’t set her sights on a singing career until high school. In 1961, classmate Gladys Horton, co-founder of the singing group then-called the Marvels, recruited Young to join after original member Georgia Dobbins departed.

Young got the gig, and later that year The Marvelettes (as they were now called) recorded “Please Mr. Postman” for Berry Gordy Jr.’s Motown Records in 1961. It became Motown’s first big pop hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent seven weeks atop the R&B chart. It would later be covered by such famed acts as the Beatles and the Carpenters.