Sarah Sprint, a co-founder of pioneering R&B/rock group Labelle of “Girl Marmalade” fame, died Monday (Sept. 20). She was 76.
“We have been simply onstage collectively on Saturday [Sept. 18] and it was such a robust and particular second,” group namesake Patti LaBelle mentioned in a press release despatched to Billboard. “Sarah Sprint was an awesomely proficient, stunning and loving soul who blessed my life and the lives of so many others in additional methods than I can say. I may all the time depend on her to have my again. That’s who Sarah was … a loyal good friend and a voice for individuals who didn’t have one. She was a real giver, all the time serving and sharing her expertise and time. I’m heartbroken, as I do know all of her family members and followers are. However I do know that Sarah’s spirit and all that she has given to the world reside on. And I pray that her valuable reminiscence brings us peace and luxury. Relaxation in energy my expensive sister. I really like you all the time!”
Born Aug. 18, 1945 in Trenton, N.J., Sprint created a vocal duo known as the Capris earlier than relocating to Philadelphia within the mid-‘60s. It was there that she teamed up with Nona Hendryx, Patti LaBelle (neé Patricia Holte) and Sundray Tucker as members of a quartet known as The Ordettes. When soon-to-be Supremes member Cindy Birdsong changed Tucker, the group modified its identify to The Bluebelles in 1962. After one other moniker change to Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, the group garnered consideration with R&B ballads, together with a reinterpretation of “Over the Rainbow” which has since develop into a LaBelle live performance fave, and likewise opened for the Rolling Stones within the early ‘60s.
But it surely wasn’t till the group’s 1971 reincarnation because the trio Labelle that issues started to click on. Eschewing the subtle glamour related to woman teams then, Labelle switched to Afros and funkier wardrobes — and later house fits — to open for acts like The Who and file extra socially, sexually and politically acutely aware songs such because the ballad “Can I Communicate to You Earlier than You Go to Hollywood?,” that includes Sprint’s robust soprano as co-lead. All of this opened the door to Labelle’s greatest industrial success with “Girl Marmalade” from their 1974 album Nightbirds. After subsequent albums Phoenix and Chameleon in 1975 and 1976, respectively, Labelle broke up and Sprint launched into a solo profession.
Her 1978 eponymous debut album featured the highest 10 Sizzling Dance Membership Songs hit “Sinner Man,” which was additionally Sprint’s solely Billboard Sizzling 100 hit, reaching No. 71 the next 12 months. Three different solo albums adopted: Ooh La La, Sarah Sprint in 1980, Shut Sufficient in 1983 and You’re All I Want in 1988. Subsequent singles of observe included “Ooh La La, Too Quickly” (later utilized in a Sassoon denims industrial) and the highest 20 Sizzling Dance Membership Songs hit “Fortunate Tonight.” Sprint additionally did session work for the O’Jays, Stylish’s Nile Rodgers, The Marshall Tucker Band and David Johansen. The late ‘80s into the early ‘90s discovered Sprint doing session work, writing songs and touring with Keith Richards and likewise hitting the highway with the Rolling Stones.
After creating and touring along with her personal one-woman present, Sprint of Diva, within the early ‘90s, Sprint reunited with Hendryx and LaBelle for the No. 1 dance hit “Flip It Out” from the 1995 soundtrack, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Every thing! Julie Newmar. The trio got here again collectively once more in 2008 for the critically acclaimed reunion album Again to Now (that includes the Sprint-led political music “System”), collaborating with producers Lenny Kravitz, Wyclef Jean,and Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff. Sprint was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by The Nationwide R&B Music Society in 2016.
This story initially appeared on Billboard.com.
