Riperton, Minnie 1947–1979

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Minnie Riperton 1947–1979

Soul singer

Born to Dance and Sing

Created Enchanted, Loving Life

Tragedy on the Heels of Success

Tireless Performer, Activist, Mother

Love Lived On

Selected discography

Sources

Singer Minnie Riperton was well on her way to becoming a pop and soul legend when she died of breast cancer in 1979, at age 31. Riperton was blessed with an astounding five-and-a-half-octave vocal range, and achieved her greatest commercial success with the hit ballad, “Lovin’ You.” Though her debut album, Come to My Garden, failed to score a hit, it drew critical attention and success quickly followed with the albums Perfect Angel and Adventures in Paradise. Just as Riperton was enjoying her treasured family life and the joys of creative success, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The artist then became a tireless activist for breast cancer awareness, in addition to performing and recording Stay in Love, and her final album, Minnie. Riperton died in 1979, but her work lived on through her fans, contemporary hip-hop acts such as A Tribe Called Quest who have sampled her songs, and a collection of her work called Petals: The Minnie Riperton Collection, which was released in 2001.

Born to Dance and Sing

Minnie Julia Riperton was born on November 8, 1947, in Chicago, and was the youngest of Daniel and Thelma Riperton’s eight children. She started taking dance lessons at age three, and studied modern dance and ballet. Even as a girl, Riperton’s goal was to become a famous singer. To this end, she started taking voice lessons at age nine, and began studying opera soon after. She was a dedicated and disciplined student, and it was not unlike her to cut short playtime with friends in order to be on time for her music lessons.

Under the tutelage of Marion Jeffries, Riperton was a tireless opera student who spent months just learning how to breathe, as well as how to listen to and hold vowels. It took years of study for Riperton to discover her rare, five-to-six octave range. Though she mastered and began singing operas and operettas, Riperton was more attracted to the rock, pop, and soul styles and the popular success that was possible with those genres. Though she ceased her classical training to pursue success as a pop vocalist, it was Riperton’s classical skills that would set her apart from her contemporaries.

Riperton sang with the a capella choir of Hyde Park High School as a freshman, and often left school early to earn extra money singing backup at local studios, which paid ten dollars per song. She was still just in her mid-teens when she signed a recording contract with the girl group the Gems with the legendary Chess Studios record label, where she worked as a receptionist. She briefly worked under the stage name Andrea Davis, and recorded the single “Lonely Girl,” which became a minor hit in the Chicago area in 1966. The recordings from these years were later reissued on Minnie Riperton: Her Chess Years, which was released in 1997.

In 1967 Riperton was hired to sing with the Rotary Connection, a rock and jazz experimental vocal group which had a small but dedicated following. The group received its biggest accolades for its progressive and experimental 1968 Christmas album, Peace, which produced the holiday single “Christmas Love,” which featured Riperton on vocals. The group recorded six

At a Glance…

Born Minnie Julia Riperton on November 8, 1947, in Chicago, IL; died on July 12, 1979, in Los Angeles, CA; daughter of Daniel and Thelma Riperton; married Richard Rudolph (a songwriter and producer); children: Maya and Marc.

Career: Took dance and vocal lessons as a girl; earned extra money singing at local studios as a teen; signed a recording contract with the Gems on the Chess Studios label and recorded under the name Andrea Davis, 1966; hired to sing with experimental rock band, Rotary Connection, 1967; group recorded six albums and toured nationally with the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, Santana, others; group disbanded, 1970; backup vocals for Quincy Jones, Roberta Flack, Freddie Hubbard, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles; released debut, Come To My Garden, 1971; Perfect Angel, 1974; Adventures In Paradise, 1975; became an activist, fund-raiser, and lecturer for breast cancer awareness; released Stay in Love: A Romantic Fantasy Set to Music, 1977; signed with Capitol Records; released Minnie, 1979; Love Lives Forever, 1980.

Member: National Education Chairwoman, American Cancer Society.

Awards: Presented with the American Cancer Society’s Courage Award by President Jimmy Carter, 1977; honored posthumously with Communicator With A Conscience Award, The Rod McGrew Scholarship Fund, 1979.

Addresses: Charity office —Minnie Riperton Fund/ Concern Foundation, 8383 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 337, Beverly Hills, CA 90211.

albums and toured nationally with such acts as the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, Santana, Sly and the Family Stone, and Jefferson Airplane before disbanding in 1970. Riperton also did some radio and commercial work during this time.

Created Enchanted, Loving Life

Riperton was playing a Chicago club show with the Rotary Connection when she met Richard (Dick) Rudolph, who would become her husband and creative partner. Riperton and Rudolph co-wrote most of Riperton’s subsequent songs. The couple had two children, a daughter and son, Maya and Marc, whose names Riperton sings in her songs; Maya is the name of the girl in “Love And It’s Glory,” and at the rapturous end of “Lovin’ You,” and she sings to Marc in the song “Wouldn’t Matter Where You Are.” The Riperton-Rudolph household in Los Angeles was Riperton’s haven—there, she was surrounded by her friends, family, children, and a veritable petting zoo, which included several dogs, cats, birds, and fish. “I live an exciting, beautiful life which, when viewed from the outside, might appear to be some kind of fairy tale inhabited by a princess,” she was quoted as saying in her 1976 Epic bio.

Her music embodied this blissful environment that Riperton surrounded herself with, this loving life she led, and the songs she wrote were all love songs. “I write about … being happy … and loving,” she said in the Epic bio, “not necessarily one person, but loving in general—because there’s really nothing else.” For live performances, her stage set included potted plants, trees, hanging vines, and live caged birds.

Riperton continued to sing backup vocals and do studio work for such artists as Quincy Jones, Roberta Flack, Freddie Hubbard, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, and Ray Charles. In 1969, she was able to record her own debut album, Come To My Garden, which was released in 1971. Though the record won critical kudos, her record company listlessly promoted the album and sales were low. Frustrated and on the verge of heading into semi-retirement in Florida at age 22, the young artist met Stevie Wonder backstage at Chicago’s Black Expo in 1971. When she introduced herself, Wonder was thrilled—he apparently was among the few who had heard her record, and was a big fan. Wonder played backup and wrote two songs for Riperton’s 1974 release, Perfect Angel. Riperton returned the favor by singing backup on Wonder’s Fulfillingness’ First Finale and Songs in the Key of Life.

Tragedy on the Heels of Success

Perfect Angel went platinum and was number one on the R&B chart for three weeks. “Lovin’ You” was the first single in the history of recorded music to achieve gold status without the support of bass or drums. That success was followed by Adventures In Paradise in 1975, and launched Riperton’s career. But Riperton’s high times ended quickly. In 1976 the singer announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and had undergone a modified mastectomy, which sidelined her career for the better part of a year.

Despite the illness, and the demands of motherhood, Riperton assured her fans that she would not quit music, and remained true to her promise—the period following her diagnosis and surgery was as productive as any time in her short life. Weeks after her surgery, she appeared on the Ebony Music Awards, where she won an “Ebby” award. As she accepted the award, Riperton broke down in tears as she considered what she and her family were going through and how fortunate she felt to be able to be present to accept the award at all. In addition to her already busy recording and performing schedule, Riperton became a spokesperson for breast cancer awareness, touting the importance of regular self-examination and the benefit of early detection.

During a 1976 appearance on the Tonight Show, Riperton unwittingly divulged the details of her experience to a shocked guest host, the late Flip Wilson, and a national viewing audience. Riperton later confided that she was as surprised by her unplanned disclosure as the speechless Wilson was. She previously had been hesitant to discuss the ordeal and wanted to avoid sympathy, but was moved by a sense of responsibility to spread the word about the disease. She felt that, by sharing the details of her story, she could reach out to other breast cancer victims.

Tireless Performer, Activist, Mother

Every aspect of Riperton’s public life then became fueled by her crusade for breast cancer awareness, and she spread her wings as an activist, fund-raiser, and lecturer. She performed and spoke at charity events and, a skilled tennis player, was a regular at celebrity tennis tournaments for charity. She was recognized in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter, who presented Riperton with the American Cancer Society’s Courage Award. The next year, she became the American Cancer Society’s National Education Chairwoman. The Rod McGrew Scholarship Fund posthumously awarded Riperton its Communicator With A Conscience award, which her daughter Maya accepted.

Neither her home nor professional life suffered as a result of her impassioned work against breast cancer. She returned to the studio to record her third album for Epic, Stay in Love: A Romantic Fantasy Set to Music. Written by Riperton and Rudolph, with the help of such artists as Stevie Wonder, Leon Ware, and Mario Henderson, and produced by Freddie Perren, Stay in Love was a “concept album about a couple’s relationship,” according to Epic press materials. “I know I’m lucky and I know I’m special,” Riperton is quoted as saying in her 1976 Epic bio. “… at this stage of my life, I’m transmitting feelings, thoughts, and emotions to other people through my music.”

Riperton then signed a contract with Capitol Records that assured her creative control and producing duties on her recordings, a rarity among female recording artists of the era. She entered the studio in the summer of 1978 to record what would be her last album, Minnie. Riperton died July 12, 1979 in Los Angeles. In her New York Times obituary, according to The New Crisis, Riperton was heralded as “one of the finest black singers of the ‘70s …. Using her voice instru-mentally, she combined the forthrightness of pop and soul singing with the intricacy of jazz in a manner that managed to be both popular and intelligent.”

Love Lived On

Dick Rudolph released a posthumous collection of Riperton’s work, called Love Lives Forever, a year after her death. Rudolph worked with Riperton’s vocals from the album she was working on when she died. Quincy Jones likened the project to “keeping the bridge and moving the water,” according to Rudolph in Right On. Rudolph then enlisted the help of Riperton’s friends—Peabo Bryson, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, and George Benson—to perform the arrangements and other vocals to accompany Riperton’s voice track. “It was difficult to keep working after Minnie died,” Rudolph told Right On. “… I love listening to this album. It turns out to be a joy. It was a form of catharsis in many ways …. That’s something that Minnie taught people: Whatever’s going down, you have to deal with it. By dealing with it straight on, you garner strength.”

Riperton’s legacy lived on. The Minnie Riperton Legacy Preservation Society was founded in 1999 by fans to promote her musical work and to carry on her campaign against breast cancer. The group petitioned Capitol Records to release more of the artist’s original material, and has hosted the Minnie Riperton Website. The group has also been involved with Renaissance Runners of Los Angeles, which has hosted the annual Minnie Riperton Walk and Run for breast cancer awareness. Capitol records has set up a scholarship fund in her name, and a Minnie Riperton Cancer Research fund was founded.

A critically-lauded collection of her work titled Petals: The Minnie Riperton Collection, was released by Capitol and The Right Stuff in 2001. Younger audiences know of Riperton because hip-hop acts such as Arrested Development, A Tribe Called Quest, and The Roots, have all sampled her work, and singer Trina Broussard remade Riperton’s “Inside My Love,” for the Love Jones soundtrack. Rapper Q-Tip has referred to Riperton a genius. Twenty years after her death, Rudolph, who has since remarried, told Jet, “Twenty years have passed, and yet she’s very real and her contributions and her gift to the world still exist and still move people in a positive direction. The thing that Minnie would be happiest about today is that people are still moved in a positive direction by her music.” In one of Riperton’s last interviews, according to a 1980 article in Right On magazine, Riperton told a reporter, “I definitely have something to say and a lot of people seem only too happy to bring my creativity into their personal consciousness …. I try to write and record things which will somehow transcend negativity—and even, strange as it may sound, beauty. I want to arrive at a space that might be considered timeless.”