Estelle Bennett

2025-09-06T20:52:35Z

178.78.105.75: Corrected date of death.

{{Use American English|date=June 2023}}
{{short description|American singer (1941–2009)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Estelle Bennett
| image = The Ronettes 1966 (cropped).JPG
| image_upright = 0.9
| alt =
| caption = Bennett in 1966
| birth_name =
| alias =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1941|04|01}}
| birth_place = {{nowrap|New York City, U.S.}}
| origin =
| death_date = {{death date and age|2009|02|11|1941|07|22}}
| death_place = [[Englewood, New Jersey]], U.S.
| genre = {{hlist|[[R&B]]|[[pop music|pop]]|[[Rock music|rock]]}}
| occupation = Singer
| years_active = 1959–1972
| label = {{hlist|[[Colpix Records|Colpix]]|[[Philles Records|Philles]]}}
| past_member_of = [[The Ronettes]]
| website = 
}}

'''Estelle Bennett''' (July 22, 1941 – February 11, 2009)<ref name="NYTobit">{{cite news| author=Sisario, Ben|date=February 13, 2009|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/14/arts/music/14bennett.html|title=Estelle Bennett, a singer for the Ronettes, is dead at 67|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 3, 2011}}</ref> was an American singer. She was a member of the girl group [[the Ronettes]], along with her sister [[Ronnie Spector|Ronnie]] and cousin [[Nedra Talley]].

== Early life ==
Bennett and her sister, Veronica (later known as Ronnie Bennett and [[Ronnie Spector]]), were raised in New York City. They were children of an Irish father and [[African-American]]/[[Cherokee descent|Cherokee]] mother; they said they were bullied at school<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/estelle-bennett-singer-with-the-ronettes-1609210.html|title=Estelle Bennett: Singer with the Ronettes|last=Leigh|first=Spencer|date=February 14, 2009|website=The Independent|access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref> because of being light-skinned African Americans. Bennett attended [[George Washington Educational Campus|George Washington High School]] in Manhattan where she was valedictorian. Studious and interested in fashion, she studied at Manhattan's [[Fashion Institute of Technology]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/feb/16/estelle-bennett-obituary|title=Estelle Bennett|last=Williams|first=Richard|date=February 15, 2009|website=The Guardian|access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref>

== Career ==
[[File:The Ronettes.JPG|upright=0.9|thumb|Bennett (right) with the Ronettes]]
When Bennett was 14, she and her sister Ronnie, and their cousin Nedra Talley started singing together. After a number of unsuccessful attempts, the trio reinvented themselves as the Ronettes. Signed up by 23-year-old [[Phil Spector]], Ronnie became lead, with Estelle and Nedra as backing. They would eventually have a No.1 hit song in 1963, "[[Be My Baby]]".

The Ronettes broke up in 1966. Bennett recorded a single in 1968 for [[Laurie Records]], "The Year 2000/The Naked Boy". In 1969, now known as Estal Bond she fronted The Love Chain, a quartet that also featured Laura Logan, Ann Trip and Cookie Woodson. They recorded three 45's but only the [[Teddy Vann]] produced 'I'm Lovin' You Baby' released on [[Minit Records|Minit]] made any headway.<ref>{{cite AV media |date=May 24, 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Rt16qxYN6I |title=THE LOVE CHAIN – I'M LOVING YOU BABY (RARE GIRL GROUP CLIP 1969 WITH ESTELLE BENNETT RONETTES) |publisher=Venus Clare |via=[[YouTube]] |access-date=January 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815210342/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Rt16qxYN6I |archive-date=August 15, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Love Chain had finished by 1971 and Estelle moved on to further projects. In 1972, Ronnie invited Estelle to her apartment to rehearse when Ronnie was trying to revive the Ronettes. Unfortunately the rehearsal was a failure. Ronnie stated that Estelle had "lost her coordination" and said that it was "bizarre." Also in 1972, she recorded the songs "Baby With No Name" and "Earthman" with the band 1984. Estelle Bennett rarely performed in public from then on, largely quitting the music business.

In 2007, when the Ronettes was inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]], it was decided that she was too fragile to perform with them. She spoke two brief sentences during her acceptance speech: "I would just like to say, thank you very much for giving us this award. I'm Estelle of the Ronettes, thank you." She did, however, come back onstage for a final bow with the other Ronettes after the performance of "Be My Baby".<ref name="NYTobit" /><ref name="sisario2">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/arts/music/17rone.html|title=A Life of Troubles Followed a Singer's Burst of Fame|last=Sisario|first=Ben|date=February 17, 2009|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 4, 2011}}</ref>

== Personal life and death ==
She married the group's road manager, Joe Dong; the couple had a daughter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lastingtribute.co.uk/tribute/bennett/3021194|title=LastingTribute.co.uk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304153740/http://www.lastingtribute.co.uk/tribute/bennett/3021194|archive-date=March 4, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> Her mental health deteriorated in the following years. It was reported that, during a visit to fellow former Ronette, Nedra Talley, she slept through her own baby daughter's crying.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/life_and_entertainment/2009/02/18/1A_RONETTE_TRAGEDY.ART_ART_02-18-09_D1_2HCUSID.html|title=Singer's life unraveled after Ronettes|date=February 18, 2009|website=The Columbus Dispatch|access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref> She was reported to have had periods of homelessness, during which she would approach strangers in the streets of New York, telling people that she would be singing with the Ronettes in a jazz club.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://jezebel.com/5155082/dying-in-obscuritys-not-just-tragic-when-youre-famous|title=Dying In Obscurity's Not Just Tragic When You're Famous|last=Stein|first=Sadie|date=February 17, 2009|website=JEZEBEL|access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref>

In the 2024 documentary [[Beatles '64]], sister Ronnie claimed Bennett was dating [[George Harrison]] in early 1964.<ref>{{cite web | title=Watch Beatles '64 | Disney+ | url=https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/play/b881a739-4799-42e4-8c2e-f99d547b5455 }}</ref>

Bennett died of [[colon cancer]], aged 67, at her home in [[Englewood, New Jersey]]. Her body was discovered on February 11, 2009.<ref name="NYTobit" /> A week after her death, it was revealed that she had [[anorexia nervosa]] and [[schizophrenia]] in the years after the Ronettes' breakup and that she had subsequently been homeless in [[New York City]].<ref name="NYTobit" /><ref name="sisario2" />

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/star-gazette/name/estelle-bennett-obituary?pid=124075845 Obituary] in the [[Star Gazette]]
*{{allMusic|artist/estelle-bennett-mn0001621201}}
*[https://themusicsover.com/2010/02/11/estelle-bennett-the-ronettes/ Estelle Bennett in themusicsover.com]
*[http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/2009.html Estelle Bennett in thedeadrockstarsclub.com]
*{{find a Grave|33775602}}

{{The Ronettes}}
{{2007 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Estelle}}
[[Category:Deaths from colorectal cancer in New Jersey]]
[[Category:George Washington Educational Campus alumni]]
[[Category:Musicians from Englewood, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Singers from New York City]]
[[Category:21st-century American singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American singers]]
[[Category:People with schizophrenia]]
[[Category:The Ronettes members]]
[[Category:American people of Cherokee descent]]
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:People from East Harlem]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American women singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American women singers]]
[[Category:African-American rock musicians]]

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Estelle Bennett