Soul singer Fontella Bass, best known for her R&B
chart-topping hit Rescue Me, has died.
The singer's daughter, Neuka Mitchell, said Bass died at a hospice in St
Louis on Wednesday night of complications from a heart attack suffered three
weeks ago. She was 72.
Bass had also suffered several strokes since 2005.
Bass was born into a family with deep musical roots. Her mother was gospel
singer Martha Bass, one of the Clara Ward Singers.
Her younger brother, David Peaston, had a string of R&B hits in the 1980s
and 1990s.
Peaston died in February at age 54.
Bass' surviving family includes four children. Her husband, jazz trumpeter
Lester Bowie, died in 1999.
