Mary Vesta Williams was an American recording artist and songwriter, who performed across genres such as pop, jazz, adult contemporary and R&B. Originally credited as Vesta Williams, she was sometimes simply billed as Vesta beginning in the 1990s.[3] She was known for her four-octave vocal range.[4][5] Although Williams never had any albums certified gold nor any Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, she scored six Top 10 hits on the United States Billboard R&B chart
from the mid 1980s to the early 1990s. Williams was known for the hits
"Once Bitten, Twice Shy", "Sweet Sweet Love", "Special", and her 1989 #1
hit and signature song,[6] "Congratulations".[7](December 1, 1957 – September 22, 2011[2])
Biography
Born in Coshocton, Ohio, United States,[1][3] Williams' father was a disc jockey. Her family moved from Ohio to Los Angeles in the 1960s. While there, Williams and her three sisters, Margaret, Marte and Marlena, appeared on the television show Jack and Jill as "The Williams Sisters".[8] Later, she returned to Ohio but decided to go back to Los Angeles in order to launch a solo career.[3] Former Fifth Dimension member Ron Townson put Williams in his band Wild Honey.[8] Following that stint, Williams found work as a backup singer, working with artists such as Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, Sting, Stephanie Mills, Anita Baker and Gordon Lightfoot. Williams sang on the original version of Joe Sample's "The Survivor",[8] and met producer David Crawford while working with his group Klique. After doing session work, she landed a recording contract with A&M Records and her debut album, Vesta, was released in 1986.[8] The album featured her first Top 10 R&B hit "Once Bitten, Twice Shy", which became her only UK hit and performed modestly on the US R&B charts.[3]Her 1988 release, Vesta 4 U, produced the Top 10 R&B hits "Sweet Sweet Love", "4 U", and "Congratulations", with the latter peaking at #55 on the Hot 100 chart and #5 on the R&B chart.[citation needed] The album would become her most successful,[citation needed] and her only album to appear on the US Billboard 200, peaking at #131. In 1991, Williams released her third album entitled Special, with the title track as a single. "Special" became her highest charting song on the R&B chart at #2, but sales of the album were less than that of Vesta 4 U. Her next album, 1993's Everything-N-More, produced only a minor R&B hit, "Always".[9]
In 1989, Polygram Records purchased A&M Records. Williams' 1998 album Relationships was released under the Polygram name, and it became a modest seller, appearing on the R&B charts. Following the release of Relationships, A&M/Polygram did not renew her contract. Williams continued to work as a session singer, landing spots on albums by such artists as Phil Perry, Howard Hewett, and George Duke. Her voice could be heard by radio listeners in jingles for advertisers that included McDonald's, Nike, Baskin-Robbins, Diet Coke, Revlon and Exxon.[10] That same year, she performed the opening theme to the ABC miniseries, The Women of Brewster Place.[11]
Williams portrayed a saloon singer in the 1993 film Posse, directed by Mario Van Peebles.[12] During this time period she had a hit with the SWV song, "Rain", recorded alongside smooth jazz musician, Norman Brown.[citation needed] Williams had a recurring role as "Monica", Jackee Harry's best friend, in the television series Sister, Sister in the 1998-99 season. Her singing voice is featured during the opening theme song of UPN's Malcolm and Eddie.[13]
In 2000, Polygram released a compilation album, featuring songs from Williams and Polygram artist, CeCe Peniston. In 2007, Williams released an album of R&B songs on Shanachie Records entitled Distant Lover. Produced by Chris "Big Dog" Davis, Distant Lover was a cover album featuring songs originally recorded by Bill Withers, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Sade, and Deniece Williams. Her last recording was the song "Dedicated", released on 7 December 2010 on Stimuli Music.[14]
By 2002, Williams became a radio personality and was co-hosting a morning show on KRNB, a radio station based in Dallas/Fort Worth.[15] In recent years, Williams lost 100 pounds, going from size 26 to a size 6.[16] It was at this time that Williams became an advocate for the prevention of childhood obesity and juvenile diabetes.[17]
Her final performance was on September 17, 2011 in Portsmouth, Virginia, performing at the Autumn Jazz Explosion, just five days before her death.[13]
Williams was scheduled to perform at the 21st annual "DIVAS Simply Singing!" in Los Angeles on October 22. Shanice performed "Congratulations" in the show as a tribute to Williams; there also was a tribute to the late singer, Teena Marie.[18] Williams was taping TV One's "Unsung" at the time of her death. The episode aired January 2, 2012.[19]
Death
On September 22, 2011, Williams was found dead in a hotel room in El Segundo, California, a suburb of Los Angeles.[1][20][21] According to the county coroner's office, Williams was found dead at 6:15 p.m. A Los Angeles County Coroner's Office spokesperson stated that the following autopsy did not yield a cause of death. In late December 2011, the family released this statement, through a family friend singer/producer Norwood Young, reporting her official cause of death: "Following three months of intensive coroner's autopsy and toxicology research, it has been definitively determined that the cause of death for our beloved Vesta was 'natural death' from 'hypertensive heart disease,'" adding: "An enlarged heart can remain undetected for many years."[22][23][24]Vesta Williams was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) on Octoder 4th, 2011 following the memorial service at West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles, California.[25] Attendees included notable friends Wanda Dee, singer Peggi Blu, Freda Payne, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Loretta Devine, Kellita Smith, Norwood Young, Michael Collier (author), Miki Howard, Karel Bouley, Kiki Shepard, Jackee’, Luenell and renowned Blues singer, Linda Hopkins. A private reception was held following the interment. [26]
She is survived by her mother, daughter, three sisters, a brother and three grandchildren as well as many cousins, friends and fans.[27]
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | Chart Positions[28] | Record Label | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B |
|||||
| 1986 | Vesta | — | 43 | A&M | ||
| 1988 | Vesta 4 U | 131 | 26 | |||
| 1991 | Special | — | 15 | |||
| 1993 | Everything-N-More | — | 65 | |||
| 1998 | Relationships | — | 55 | I.E. / PolyGram | ||
| 2000 | Winning Combinations (a compilation) with CeCe Peniston | — | — | A&M/Universal | ||
| 2007 | Distant Lover | — | — | Shanachie | ||
| 2012 | Seven [29] | — | — | Bronx Bridge Entertainment | ||
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart | ||||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions[30] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B |
US Dance |
Dutch Single Top 100 | UK[31] | ||
| 1986 | "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" | — | 9 | 45 | 20 | 14 |
| 1987 | "Something About You" | — | 46 | 21 | — | — |
| "Don't Blow a Good Thing" | — | 17 | 5 | — | 89 | |
| "Suddenly It's Magic" | — | — | — | — | 88 | |
| "You Make Me Want To (Love Again)" | — | 90 | — | — | — | |
| 1988 | "Sweet, Sweet Love" | — | 4 | — | — | — |
| 1989 | "4 U" | — | 9 | — | — | — |
| "Congratulations" | 55 | 5 | — | — | — | |
| "How You Feel" | — | 70 | — | — | — | |
| 1990 | "I'll Be Good to You" (with Najee) | — | 9 | — | — | — |
| 1991 | "Special" | — | 2 | — | — | — |
| "Do Ya" | — | 43 | — | — | — | |
| 1993 | "Always" | — | 44 | — | — | — |
| 1998 | "Somebody For Me" | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2010 | "Dedicated" | — | — | — | — | — |
| "—" denotes the single failed to chart or was not released | ||||||
Music videos
- "Once Bitten, Twice Shy"
- "Somebody For Me"
- "Don't Blow a Good Thing"
- "Sweet Sweet Love"
- "4 U"
- "Congratulations"
- "How You Feel"
- "Special"
- "Do Ya"
- "Somebody For Me"
- "Dedicated"
To see more of who died in 2011 click here
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