1. Syreeta Wright, who was of African American heritage, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, in 1946, and started singing at the age of four.
19 Facts About Syreeta Wright
1. 2.
Money problems kept Syreeta Wright from pursuing a career in ballet, so she focused her attention on a music career joining several singing groups, before landing a job as a receptionist for Motown in 1965.
3.
Brian felt Syreeta was a hard name to pronounce, and that Rita Wright would make a good stage name, so Wright's first solo single was released in January 1968 under that name, with "Something On My Mind" on the flip side.
4.
Syreeta Wright performed demo vocals for the Supremes hit "Love Child" and for Ross' version of "Something On My Mind", released on her self-titled debut album.
5.
When Diana Ross left the Supremes in early 1970, Motown boss Berry Gordy considered replacing her with Syreeta Wright, but offered the place in the group to Jean Terrell.
6.
Syreeta Wright sang background on records by the Supremes and by Martha and the Vandellas, notably singing the chorus to the group's modest hit single, "I Can't Dance to That Music You're Playing".
7.
Syreeta Wright met labelmate Stevie Wonder in 1968, and the two began dating the following year.
8.
Syreeta Wright began singing backing for Wonder, most notably on the hit "Signed, Sealed, Delivered ", which Syreeta Wright co-wrote with Wonder.
9.
In between working with Wonder on his albums, Syreeta Wright decided to return to her own singing career.
10.
Wonder and Syreeta Wright had marriage troubles and divorced in the summer of 1972, ending their 18-month marriage.
11.
Syreeta Wright and Preston provided the soundtrack of the film and their first collaboration, "With You I'm Born Again", resulted in an international hit reaching number-four US and number-two UK in early 1980.
12.
Syreeta Wright had sung on Billy Preston's appearance on the debut episode of Saturday Night Live, on October 11,1975.
13.
Syreeta Wright still worked with Wonder during this period singing the lead vocals for their composition "Come Back as a Flower" for Wonder's 1979 album Journey through the Secret Life of Plants and sung alongside Wonder on his 1980 song "As If You Read My Mind" for his Hotter than July album.
14.
Syreeta Wright continued to provide background vocals until Wonder's 1995 album Conversation Peace.
15.
Syreeta Wright then issued The Spell in 1983 produced by Jermaine Jackson, and left Motown two years later after collaborating with Smokey Robinson for the soundtrack to Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon in 1985.
16.
Syreeta Wright briefly recorded for Motorcity Records before retiring from show business for good in the mid-1990s and settling in Los Angeles with her four children.
17.
Syreeta Wright briefly lived in Ethiopia in the mid-1970s, where she worked as a Transcendental Meditation teacher.
18.
Syreeta Wright eventually settled in Los Angeles, where she lived for the rest of her life.
19.
Syreeta Wright died in 2004 of congestive heart failure, a side effect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments she was receiving for breast and bone cancer.