Family of R&B Singer/Songwriter Vesta Williams Speaks | Funeral Set for Oct 4th, 2011

FROM THE FAMILY OF VESTA WILLIAMS

Family of R&B Singer/Songwriter Vesta Williams Speaks Personally Upon Her Passing

(September 29, 2011 – Los Angeles, CA) On the evening of Thursday September 22, popular veteran singer/songwriter/entertainer Vesta Williams was found dead in her El Segundo, California hotel room.  The artist best known for her heart-wrenching 1988 classic “Congratulations” (#1 R&B Radio & Records / #5 R&B Billboard) had been staying in the hotel as she prepared to move into a new home that upcoming weekend.  Her untimely passing – still a mystery at press time with a toxicology report not due until the end of October – has left those that loved her devastated.

In a collaborative statement prepared by Williams’ family, they express:

“After many years of sharing her God-given gifts and talents with the world, we have lost our beloved mother, daughter, and sister, Vesta.  Due to the uncertainty of her passing we are awaiting toxicology and autopsy results to shed light on what may have caused her death.  We take extreme comfort in the cherished times that we shared with Vesta over the years, and the knowledge that her life brought joy and happiness to so many people around the world.  Our family requests that the media please respect our privacy during this difficult time.  Although she is gone, her music lives on. Vesta will never be forgotten.”

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Born Mary Vesta Williams on December 1, 1957 in Coshocton, Ohio, the lady was the first born child to Hugh Williams and his wife Joan, and the eldest of four daughters.  Mr. Williams was a broadcaster who moved his family to Los Angeles in the mid-`60s to pursue opportunities as a disc jockey at KFWB-AM and KGFJ-AM, became the first African American to anchor the evening news in Los Angeles at KABC-TV and later hosted his own program “The Big Question.” At 14, Vesta returned to Ohio to live with grandmother Vivian Williams but came back to L.A. in the `70s to pursue her love of singing and entertaining.  Putting her powerful 4-octave vocal range to work, her first major gig was as a member of the Las Vegas show group Wild Honey led by Ron Townson (a founding member of The 5^th Dimension), as well as background vocals on the road with Bobby Womack and the Commodores.  Her first lead vocal gig was live with the Crusaders.

From there, Williams landed a job singing background for then-recently liberated former Rufus lead singer Chaka Khan, whose voice hers uncannily mirrored.  This exposure led to a string of impressively eclectic gigs singing background on studio recordings for artists as wide ranging as R&B bands L.T.D. and the Commodores, soul singers Anita Baker and Jermaine Jackson, rock group Lone Justice, folk star Gordon Lightfoot, Latin heartthrob Julio Iglesias and English rocker Sting (singing the blazing hook of “We’ll Be Together”).  A chance meeting with record executive John McClain, who was looking for a third girl for a female vocal trio swiftly evolved into the powerhouse singer – now known as Vesta Williams – to sign a solo contract with Herb Alpert & Jerry Moss’ A&M Records.

Williams bowed in 1986 with the album Vesta which featured the single “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” and the original recording of the Gary Taylor-penned Quiet Storm burner “I’m Coming Back” (later covered by Lalah Hathaway…twice).  It was her second album, Vesta 4 U (1988) that yielded the song that became her signature, “Congratulations,” the show-stopping number that lifted audiences to their feet night after night.  Vesta co-penned the song with Gary Prim and Tena Clark, the latter an aspiring female writer whom Vesta passionately fought for to produce the song.  Beyond the strength of that smash, it was Vesta’s concerts – which also showcased her natural comedic instincts, gift for celebrity impressions and defiantly flirty nature…for a “big girl” – that were winning her loyal fans wherever she performed.  More hits followed such as “Sweet, Sweet Love,” “Special” (her highest Billboard R&B charter at #2) and “Always,” but Vesta’s bountiful gifts were taking her places.

One place was the Hollywood big screen where she played a saucy Black Mae West-type saloon singer named “Vera” in the Black Western film “Posse” (directed by Mario Van Peebles – 1993), also writing and singing two songs for the soundtrack. On the television sitcom “Sister Sister,” she played recurring character “Monica” – best friend to Jackée Harry’s “Lisa Landry.”  Her voice animated the theme song for the TV show “Malcolm & Eddie” titled “It’s Our World,” which she later recorded on George Duke’s album, Is Love Enough?  That golden voice also made her money singing jingles for Diet Coke, Baskin-Robbins, Revlon, Honda, Exxon and – most memorably – on camera with jazz vocal icon Al Jarreau singing “The Big Mac Scat” for McDonalds.

Vesta’s winning personality also shone brightly when she took a six-figure job as one of four members of a radio morning show team at KRNB-FM 105.7 in the Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas market.  The cushy and lucrative gig found her recording her parts two weeks out of a month from the comfort of her L.A. home studio and the other two weeks in the Dallas studio with the crew.  It also gave her a poignant chance to follow in her father’s broadcast footsteps…

Following a stint at MCA Records where she recorded well over an album’s worth of material (of which only one promotional single was released), a slim and trim 100 pounds lighter Vesta returned triumphant in 1998 on guitarist Lee Ritenour’s boutique i.e. music imprint (via jazz giant Verve) with a concept album widely considered to be her finest entitled Relationships.  Vesta co-composed 10 of the CD’s 11 songs including the gorgeous single, “Somebody For Me,” plus sang a cover of “You and I” by one of her greatest musical influences, Stevie Wonder.

Through bassist Nathan East, Vesta was invited to tour with super group Fourplay, just one of many associations she cultivated in the smooth jazz world, including featured guest recordings with singer Will Downing, saxophonists Najee and Eric Marienthal, drummer Ricky Lawson, and guitarist Norman Brown.  When her voice was added on a remix of Brown’s jazz take on the SWV hit “Rain,” the song proved so popular at radio that Warner Brothers pulled the original CD off the shelves and added Vesta’s version as a bonus track.  And on the more serious straight ahead jazz tip, Vesta did a sassy memorable turn on bassist Christian McBride’s album, A Family Affair titled “…Or So You Thought.”

Inspirational at heart, Vesta also recorded the touching “Bless This Child” for the Christmas compilation Mother & Child (which featured a cross-section of mothers who were also singers that included Amy Grant, Olivia Newton-John, CeCe Winans and Martina McBride).  For the Norman Connors-produced Café Soul All-Stars CD/DVD Love Pages she sang “One More Bridge to Cross.” And those present will never forget her show-stopping performance during a Bobby Jones gospel concert which surprised folks that didn’t know “V” had church roots.

The last album released by Vesta was 2007’s Distant Lover for Shanachie Records on which she sang a hand-picked selection of soul classics ranging from Bill Withers to Babyface…from Sly Stone to Sade.  She also recorded an album for Stimuli Records titled Seven that was slated for a 2010 release but held back except for the first single/video “Dedicated.”  In between those two projects, Vesta remained on the road, delighting audiences with a well-rounded old school “show” that entertained on multiple levels.  Iris Perkins, Vesta’s dear friend and longtime manager, reminisces of promoting her, “Even without a record deal, we were able to keep Vesta’s concert calendar booked solid.  With ‘V,’ we had an artist that was the total package.”

In her wake, fans can thankfully anticipate an episode of TV One’s popular music documentary series “Unsung” devoted to her to air later this Fall (she was in the midst of completing her interviews the week before her passing), as well as the likely release – sooner than later – of the unreleased material Vesta left behind at MCA/Universal, Stimuli and elsewhere.

Gifted, funny, sexy, generous, ever-so-real and oh-so-underrated, Vesta Williams will be deeply missed as a performer, loving family member, a friend and an all-around sunny presence on Earth.

Vesta Williams is survived by her daughter – Tandia White, her mother – Ms. Joan W. Tate, her sisters – Margaret Wilson, Martaé Collins and Marlena Robinson, and her grandchildren – Taya McNeil, Alexia McNeil and Brendon White.

Funeral services for Vesta Williams will be held at the following:

West Angeles Church of God and Christ

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

11:00AM

3045 Crenshaw Blvd. (North Campus)

Los Angeles, CA 90016

For gifts other than flowers, please contact: 951.278.9634