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Minnie Riperton

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Chicago, United States (1947 – 1979)

Minnie Riperton (Nov 8, 1947 - Jul 12, 1979) was an American singer who is best remembered for her 1974 hit ballad,

Lovin’ You.

The tragic 1979 death of 31-year-old Riperton silenced one of soul music’s most unique and unforgettable voices - blessed with an angelic five-octave vocal range, she scored her greatest commercial success with the chart-topping pop ballad, “Lovin’ You”. Riperton was born in Chicago on November 8, 1947. As a young girl, she studied music, drama, and dance at the city’s Lincoln Center and later contemplated a career in opera. Her pop career began in 1963 when she joined the local girl group called The Gems (not to be confused with the 60s New York-based girl group Gems, led by Louise Bethune), who were also known at times as The Starlets (1963-1966), signing to the famed Chess label to release a handful of singles as well as lend backing vocals to acts including Fontella Bass, The Dells, and Etta James. After graduating from high school, Riperton went to work at Chess as a receptionist. A year before The Gems’ dissolution in 1967, she also signed with the label as a solo act, releasing a single,

Lonely Girl, under the alias Andrea Davis (a pseudonym she used in honor of Billy Davis, her mentor at Chess who wrote the song for her).

In 1967, Riperton was installed as the lead vocalist of the psychedelic soul band Rotary Connection, which debuted that year with a self-titled LP on Cadet Concepts.

Tagged as:

soul, female vocalists, funk, jazz, oldies
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Perfect Angel / Adventures in Paradise
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Come to My Garden
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Les Fleurs - The Minnie Riperton Anthology
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Perfect Angel
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Top Tracks

1	Lovin' You full track	1,347
2	Inside My Love full track	995
3	Loving You	254
4	Reasons full track	226
5	Les Fleurs full track	185
6	Every Time He Comes Around full track	174
7	Memory Lane full track	141
8	Perfect Angel full track	139
9	Here We Go full track	107
10	Take a Little Trip full track	105
11	I'm A Woman	94
12	Seeing You This Way full track	73
13	Completeness full track	71
13	Les Fleur	71
15	You Take My Breath Away full track	66

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NariiEffBaybee wrote:
Tuesday afternoon

Come To My Garden<3

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vyntage1 wrote:
Tuesday morning

There's no need to put Mariah in a back-seat to Minnie R. When Mariah came along, the first person we thought of was Minnie. Mariah has often given much respect to Minnie when interviewed about her comparison to Minnie. Besides, 'many' females have a very natural ability to squeal high-pitch notes, whether they can sing with them or not. Mariah's inherited her singing talent from her mother. She just perfected the manipulation of the squealing-singing. Just some guys may be able to sing up in the range of Phillip Bailey(of earth, wind & fire). But, Minnie Riperton's sweet personality has charmed us to the point where we will let no one get recognition equal to hers. Yes, let's not hate.

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gabethevegan wrote:
last month

how dare you associate minnie riperton with mariah carey (4)

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Aromatas wrote:
last month

forever young, forever loving, forever Minnie.

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Katisdope wrote:
last month

<333 ilyyy

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emcxmc wrote:
last month

She would have been 62 today, twice as much as she lived. We still miss her but will never forget her.

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gabethevegan wrote:
last month

Les Fleurs is her best,but however corny "lovin You" may sound to modern ears.I think its absolutely Gorgeous.She was Unique,cant ever imagine any one covering this........................No one else can make me feel The colors that you bring Stay with me while we grow old And we will live each day in springtime...............Songs like this can still lift me when i am down..Gabe

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gabethevegan wrote:
last month

Diva!

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DM_92 wrote:
last month

fantastic voice

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Cozziee wrote:
last month

just fantastic

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TOURNIQUETE wrote:
October 2009

the femme voice

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jaejin90 wrote:
October 2009

Lovin' You ♥

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bsimpson1972 wrote:
October 2009

I love you, Minnie!

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EdButterfly wrote:
October 2009

Ela era perfeita....

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UchihaUmi wrote:
September 2009

c'mon people! Mariah says she was inspired by Minnie, and u start hattin' on her?! she's not trying to copy, she's trying to do her little personal tribute to her. Mariah already listened and admired Minnie long before you (most of us weren't even born), so as the legendary artist she is, she has the right to pay her tribute.

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MARKOMC wrote:
September 2009

I really love the fact that Minnie has so many listeners.And to those who hate on Mariah here,thanks to her,i was interested enough to learn more about the singer and i am sure she inspired many to do the same.

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NeoWilson wrote:
August 2009

love Lovin' You

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endy_korol wrote:
August 2009

няка май вери гуд сингер!

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satinsback wrote:
August 2009

i loved Minnie Ripperton the first time i saw/heard her. i watched her on talk shows, everything, anything i could to see her and hear her. then, she was on a talk show and discussing her cancer. next she was dead. her voice was impossible for mariah carey to copy, her voice is like none other. so few artists have 5 octave voices and hers was positively wonderfully dreamy.

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aphrospice wrote:
August 2009

how dare you associate minnie riperton with mariah carey [3]

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Recent Activity

alvin4eva, makiz123, heartmysoul and 5 other people added Minnie Riperton to their libraries. yesterday evening
icegate tagged Minnie Riperton with ‘soul’. Monday afternoon
YOUNG13LUNTED16, PLiPhaze, kimbw and 17 other people added Minnie Riperton to their libraries. Monday morning
IanAR updated the wiki page for Inside My Love. (diff) Thursday evening
roquegypsy tagged Minnie Riperton with ‘female vocalists’. last week
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