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Artist
Betty Davis
12+ albums
funksoulfemale vocalistsjazzblues
about
Betty Gray Davis (née Mabry; July 26, 1944 — February 9, 2022), was an American cult funk-rock and soul singer-songwriter, producer, model and fashion icon. She was known for her harsh, erotic and raw funky vocals, controversial sexually-oriented lyrics and performance style, and for being the second wife of jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. She's also regarded by many as the "Queen of Funk." Davis was born as Betty Mabry in Durham, North Carolina, USA. Mabry's debut was as a songwriter, with The Chambers Brothers's Uptown (1967, Columbia). When Betty turned sixteen, she moved to New York and met several musicians including Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone. She met Miles Davis in 1967 and married him in 1968. As he stated in his autobiography, in addition to creating turmoil in his personal life, his wife helped him to explore music by introducing him to psychedelic rock guitarist Hendrix and funk innovator Stone. There is plenty of circumstantial evidence, though seemingly no credible documentation, to support the idea that Miles Davis named his masterpiece jazz-fusion album Bitches Brew after Betty. After the breakup of her marriage, Davis moved to London to pursue her modelling career. She wrote music - a passion since childhood - while in the U.K. and returned to the U.S. with the intention of recording songs with Santana and The Commodores. When those projects didn't work out, she organised a group of talented West Coast funk musicians and recorded the songs under her own name.
top songs
albums
They Say I'm Different
Betty Davis
Nasty Gal
The Columbia Years
Is It Love or Desire
Crashin' From Passion
This Is It!
Hangin' out in Hollywood
Light In The Attic 10 Year Anniversary: Betty Davis "If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up"
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Orange is the New Black
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Orange Is The New Black (Music From The Original Series)
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Island Records Post Punk Box Set - Out Come The Freaks