Funk Queen Betty Davis has passed away
Betty Davis - a leading figure of funk and former wife of Miles Davis - has died at the age of 76
Last updated 9th Feb 2022
Betty Davis, one of the formative figures of the funk movement, has passed away at the age of 76.
The news was broken to Rolling Stone by ethnomusicologist Danielle Maggio - a "close friend of Davis whose research as an ethnomusicologist focused on Davis’ work".
Betty Mabry was born in North Carolina 1945 (with some sources suggesting 1944), growing up in Durham and moving to Pittsburgh at the age of 12, before heading to New York City in the early 1960s to study at the Fashion Institue of Technology. During her time in New York, Betty immersed herself in the fashionable Greenwich Village and art scene which surrounded it, working as a model.
Having listened to the blues music of B. B. King, Elmore James, Jimmy Reed and others in her youth, Betty began releasing music in 1964 - 'Get Ready for Betty' / 'I'm Gonna Get My Baby Back' being her first label release on Don Costa's DCP imprint.
This kickstarted her music career, and it was in 1968 that she achieved her first major writing credit for The Chambers Brothers for a song called 'Uptown'.
In 1966, Betty first met Miles Davis, who had not long separated from his first wife Frances Davis. The pair started dating in 1968 and were married by the end of the year, but their marriage began to break down quickly and were separated by 1969.
Despite their brief relationship, Miles credits Betty for his immersion into the world of rock and fusion jazz, particularly she introduced Miles to Jimi Hendrix. During this time, he had turned to his music, alongside James Brown as well as Sly & the Family Stone, which helped led to his exploration into fusion jazz and electronic period; In A Silent Way (1969), Bitches Brew (1970), Jack Johnson (1971),_ and _On The Corner (1972).
Following the pair's split, Betty Davis solo music career began to flourish, with the recording and releasing of three albums during the early to mid-1970s; Betty Davis (1973), They Say I'm Different (1974), and Nasty Gal (1975).
Betty's eponymous, debut release, through Just Sunshine, came in 1973 after a brief spell in the UK and then a move to Los Angeles. During this time, she teamed up with producer Greg Errico - a member of Sly & the Family Stone - to create a funk-rock album that featured an array of contemporary stars, including Sylvester, The Point Sisters, Peter Sears and Neal Schon. Despite the strong lineup on the album and making headway in Europe, her album did not break through commercially in the United States, largely due to its sexual nature and outspoken themes that resulted in objections from many radio stations, TV outlets and religious communities.
Her second album - They Say I'm Different - was self-produced and released in 1974, again through Just Sunshine, followed by her third and final album Nasty Gal.
Unfortunately, Nasty Gal, her first major-label appearance with Island Records, was a commercial failure and led to a retraction from the world of music after pressure from the label, which prompted her to return to Pittsburgh in 1979 and withdraw from public life.
Betty's long-rumoured fourth studio album did eventually come to light in 2009, after being released with Light in the Attic Records, which had originally been recorded in 1976.
Despite not cutting through during the 1970s, many within the music community praise her catalogue of work, which has been seen as revolutionary - both with her influence on Miles Davis, but also with her own work for its outspoken themes and innovative funk sounds, even if it did not achieve widespread praise at the time.