{"id":1908,"date":"2022-02-09T20:31:02","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T01:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gynesisradio.com\/tpsquare\/2022\/02\/09\/betty-davis-trailblazing-queen-of-funk-dead-at-77\/"},"modified":"2022-02-09T20:31:02","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T01:31:02","slug":"betty-davis-trailblazing-queen-of-funk-dead-at-77","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gynesisradio.com\/tpsquare\/2022\/02\/09\/betty-davis-trailblazing-queen-of-funk-dead-at-77\/","title":{"rendered":"Betty Davis, Trailblazing Queen of Funk, Dead at 77"},"content":{"rendered":"

The ex-wife of jazz legend Miles Davis was years ahead of her time, only to disappear from the spotlight for decades<\/h2>
\"Portrait<\/figure>

Betty Davis<\/a>, the cult funk singer and ex-wife of jazz legend Miles Davis<\/a> who left an underappreciated yet trailblazing body of work, died Wednesday at the age of 77. Danielle Maggio, a close friend of Davis whose research as an ethnomusicologist focused on Davis\u2019 work, confirmed the singer\u2019s death to Rolling Stone<\/em>. Amie Downs, communications director for Allegheny County where Davis lived, added that the cause of death was natural causes.<\/p>

\u201cIt is with great sadness that I share the news of the passing of Betty Davis, a multi-talented music influencer and pioneer rock star, singer, songwriter, and fashion icon,\u201d Davis\u2019 longtime friend Connie Portis said in a statement Wednesday. \u201cMost of all, Betty was a friend, aunt, niece, and beloved member of her community of Homestead, Pennsylvania, and of the worldwide community of friends and fans. At a time to be announced, we will pay tribute to her beautiful, bold, and brash persona. Today we cherish her memory as the sweet, thoughtful, and reflective person she was\u2026There is no other.\u201d<\/p>

The near-entirety of Davis\u2019 musical catalog was recorded between 1964 and 1975, but her impact has been felt for decades. A model by profession, Davis first began making music under her birth name Betty Mabry, including her 1964 single \u201cGet Ready for Betty.\u201d An influential figure in the New York music scene in the late-Sixties, she would pen the Chambers Brothers song \u201cUptown (to Harlem),\u201d<\/a> which enjoyed a recent resurgence when it featured in Questlove\u2019s Oscar-nominated documentary Summer of Soul<\/em>. In 1968, become the second wife of Miles Davis; the following year, Mabry, now performing under the name Betty Davis, would appear on the cover of the jazz great\u2019s Filles de Kilimanjaro<\/em>, with Betty also the inspiration behind Miles\u2019<\/p>

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