Talented soul, funk and R&B singer Betty Wright (born Bessie Regina Norris) has passed away at 66 years old. Perhaps not a household name, Wright's influence stretched further than many might realize. Releasing her first album, My First Time Around (1968), at just 14 years old, she went on to make her breakout funk hit "Clean Up Woman" three years later. That song and many others of hers have been sampled in hip-hop, R&B and pop-by Beyonce, Mary J Blige, Chance The Rapper, Avicii, Sublime and others. Throughout the '70s, Wright was often in the R&B and Billboard charts, and later worked with the likes of Erykah Badu, The Roots and David Byrne. Anybody who has listened to contemporary music has likely heard Betty Wright in one form or another-such is her influence.

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