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Esther Phillips

 

R&B singer Esther Mae Jones (Esther Phillips) was born in Galveston, Texas on December 23, 1935 and grew up in Houston, Texas and Watts, Los Angeles. She was discovered at a talent show by Johnny Otis when she was 14 years old, and rose to prominence with hit records age 15, in 1950. The initial success was not repeated due to her drug addiction. In 1954 she went back to live with her father, and spent time in Lexington, Kentucky, receiving treatment for her addiction. Then her recording of “Release Me” (1960) revived her career. In 1972 she signed with the Kudu label and the resulting album “From a whisper to a scream” and the single from it, “Home is where the hatred is”, were major successes. Two years later she recorded the disco smash “What a difference a day made”.

Esther Phillips died from kidney and liver failure due to drug abuse in Carson, California on August 7, 1984, aged 48. Johnny Otis conducted her funeral service.

Image: Undated | The African-American Registry

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