Nedra Talley Ross, who was the last surviving member of the ’60s hitmaking girl group The Ronettes, has died, a statement released on the trio’s social media accounts confirmed Sunday (April 26). She was 80.
Her cause of death has not been reported.
“It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of Nedra Talley Ross’ passing. She was a light to those who knew and loved her,” read the statement, which was posted on the official Ronettes page on Facebook.
“As a founding member of The Ronettes, along with her beloved cousins Ronnie and Estelle, Nedra’s voice, style and spirit helped define a sound that would change music,” the message continued. “Her contribution to the group’s story and their defining influence will live forever. Rest peacefully dear Nedra. Thanks for the magic.”
With Ronnie Bennett (later known as Ronnie Spector) and Estelle Bennett, she formed The Ronettes and recorded songs that would live on as classic pop staples, including the group’s influential 1963 hit “Be My Baby.”
Talley Ross, born in 1945, gave an interview just a couple months before her death in which she recounted her start in music, telling the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio, “I started singing when I was very young because my mother sang, [and] my grandmother.”
“I owe my mom everything,” she noted. “She liked to sing, wanted to sing … She gave me the courage to go out there and sing.”
“I figured something out recently,” said Talley Ross. “Part of the reason I believe the Ronettes continued and we were as successful as we were, is because we held each other’s hand when we walked out on stage, and we believed that God was watching what we did.” God and vigilant family members, that is: “We had uncles that were guards,” she joked, and a mother who had enough interest in performing to impart advice about what her daughter might encounter as a young woman on stage in the early ’60s: “Believe me. I’m older than you. I know what’s out there.”
“They kept us tight. My mom kept me very tight,” said Nedra, who grew up in New York City with cousins Ronnie and Estelle, who were sisters. The three often sang together with other family members, and formed a family act they first called the Darling Sisters. They’d rebrand as Ronnie and the Relatives before ultimately becoming the trio known as The Ronettes, a name that combined parts of each of their individual first names.
Together they auditioned for Philles Records and legendary producer Phil Spector in 1963, after establishing their performance style at live nightclub gigs, including Brooklyn’s Fox Theater, but seeing little success with initial records released through Colpix Records.
With Philles, “Be My Baby” — co-written by Phil with Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, and led by Ronnie’s signature vocal — became The Ronettes’ breakthrough single, peaking at No. 2 on the Hot 100 in 1963. “Be My Baby” remains their highest-charting song.
The Ronettes (left to right): Veronica ‘Ronnie’ Bennett, Nedra Talley and Estelle Bennett.
Fred Mott/Getty Images
Among The Ronettes’ discography are the singles “Baby I Love You,” which reached No. 24 on the Hot 100 in 1963, and “Walking in the Rain,” which peaked at No. 23 in 1964. They released just one full-length album, 1964’s Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes.
The single that would land The Ronettes their second-highest chart position, to Talley Ross’ surprise — “I didn’t expect that to be a memorable song,” she quipped of its Billboard chart ranking in her interview with the Western Reserve Historical Society — was a 1963 recording of the Christmas standard “Sleigh Ride,” climbing up the Hot 100 all the way to No. 8 — though not until 2023, 60 years after its original release on Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift for You compilation.
The Ronettes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (with an introduction Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, who once were an opening act for The Ronettes) at the March 12, 2007 ceremony, where they performed three songs, including “Be My Baby,” to a standing ovation from the crowd. (Nedra and Ronnie performed without Estelle, who was present to accept the honor but not well enough to sing.)
“They could sing all their way right through a wall of sound,” Richards said as The Ronettes were inducted into the Rock Hall. “They didn’t need anything. They touched my heart right there and then and they touch it still.”
Estelle Bennett died in 2009, and Ronnie Spector died in 2022. Both passed away after battling cancer.
Beyond her years with The Ronettes, Talley Ross recorded as a solo artist, releasing a contemporary Christian album titled Full Circle in 1978.
The set was produced by her late husband, Scott Ross, whom she married in 1967; they first met when he was working in radio in New York City, and — after The Ronettes disbanded — moved to Virginia, where he took a position at The 700 Club. The couple had four children together.
