Back down Memory Lane…Minnie Riperton

Ever since I caught TVONE’s series on underated artists called UNSUNG a few months back, I was hoping that they would continue the series. They had highlighted artists DeBarge, The Clark Sisters, Donnie Hathaway & Phyllis Hyman (who I previously blogged about) giving background information on them  that was not all previously known. At least not to me. So imagine my joy when I heard a few weeks ago that the show was coming back on with a new crop of underappreciated artists to shed some new light on. Well, it came back on last night with a great special on the very talented Minnie Riperton.  I hadn’t known much about her outside of her amazing passionate voice and my favorite songs by her, “Loving You” and “Back Down Memory Lane”. However, I do remember when she passed away from cancer in 1979, cos all the R&B radio stations in Chicago were playing her song  and many of the adults I knew were all upset like they had lost a close personal friend. Well- after seeing the Unsung program, I can understand why. Not only did she have the voice of an angel, she had the spirit of one too. She found a man that she fell in love with, had beautiful children (her daughter Maya Rudolph was a regular on SNL for many seasons) and continued her love & passion for her music until she was too ill to carry on. So make sure you all out there check out this program cos it is simply AMAZING. To TVONE- I love this series and hope you continue it. I will be watching the next few weeks for sure….Bless