US soul singer Fontella Bass dies at 72

London: American soul singer Fontella Bass has died of complications following a heart attack she suffered 3 weeks ago, in the city where she was born, St Louis, Missouri. She was 72.

Bass had been in poor health for most of the last seven years, the BBC reported. Her mother was the gospel singer Martha, one of the Clara Ward Singers, and Bass began performing at a young age, singing in her church’s choir at the age of six. Like many musicians of her generation, she graduated to soul and R and B in 1960s, signing to Chess Records. Her single ‘Rescue Me’ topped the US R and B chart in 1965. She was married to jazz trumpeter, Lester Bowie, who died in 1999, and is survived by her 4 children. ANI