10 Things You Didn’t Know about Betty Wright

Betty Wright is one of the most famous names in the music business. In part, this is because she has been performing from the 1950s to the present, meaning that she can claim a formidable body of work both on her own and in collaboration with other artists. However, it should also be noted that she can claim more than her fair share of hits, which have gone on to inspire numerous artists in both her chosen genre and the other genres of music out there.

While she reached her peak in the 1970s when she managed to land some of the highest spots on the charts with a succession of hits, Wright remains an active figure in music, as shown by the fact that she was one of the artists featured on DJ Khaled’s “Holy Key” along with Big Sean and Kendrick Lamar. Summed up, while her career is already extraordinary, she seems determined to make it even more extraordinary still.

Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about Betty Wright:

1. Uses a Stage Name

It is interesting to note that Wright uses a stage name like a lot of the other singers, musicians, and entertainers out there. To be exact, she was born Bessie Regina Norris to Rosa Akins Braddy-Wright and McArthur Norris. However, it is even more interesting to note that Wright started using her stage name from an early age, so much so that she was known to have been called by Betty Wright by the time she was 11.

2. Became a Professional Singer At the Age of 2

Wright came from a musical family, so it should come as no surprise to learn that she started singing from an early age. In fact, she is known to have become a professional singer at the age of 2 when she contributed vocals to the first album of the Echoes of Joy, which was a gospel group formed by her siblings. The gospel group found a measure of success, enough to see them performing together until the middle of the 1960s.

3. Signed with Her First Label At the Age of 12

After the Echoes of Joy broke up, Wright made the decision to switch over from gospel to R&B. For a time, she sang in talent shows through Miami, which served to hone her talent while also attracting positive attention. This culminated in her signing up with her first label at the age of 12 when her performance managed to catch the attention of a local record label owner.

4. Started Releasing Songs in High School

While she was attending high school, Wright was also making significant progress with her signing career. For example, she released a number of singles such as “Thank You Baby” and “Paralyzed,” which managed to get her a fair bit of positive attention in Miami but less so in other cities throughout the United States. Furthermore, she released her first album when she was still at the age of 14. In fact, she even managed to do some recruiting of more musical talent in her spare time, as shown by her successful recruitment of George and Gwen McCrae. Summed up, Wright managed to juggle her schooling with her singing career well, which is further supported by the next fact.

5. Got Her Big Breakthrough At the Age of 17

At the age of 17, Wright released what has become her signature song, “Clean Up Woman.” In brief, the song managed to reach number 2 on the R&B charts before holding on for a total of 8 weeks. After which, it made a successful transition to the pop charts, where it remained for a total of 14 weeks. In the end, “Clean Up Woman” was so successful that it was confirmed to have sold more than a million copies no more than 9 days after Wright had turned 18.

6. Had a Couple of Proto-Disco Hits

Wright predated disco, but it is interesting to note that she was part of the current to led to it coming into existence. As a result, it should come as no surprise to learn that she had a couple of proto-disco hits of her own, which went on to influence later musicians. The first was “Where Is the Love,” which was also notable in that it was successful enough in the United Kingdom to get Wright started on touring overseas. The second was “Shoorah! Shoorah!,” which managed to win a fair amount of overseas success as well.

7. Her Second Big Hit Came in 1974

However, “Shoorah! Shoorah!” was not the biggest song on the album on which it was released. Instead, that honor went to “Tonight Is the Night,” which turned out to be the single biggest song of Wright’s career. Like its name suggests, the soul ballad was inspired by Wright’s first sexual experiences and proved to be popular enough that it has been released multiple times.

8. First Black Female Artist to Have a Gold Album On Her Own Label

Wright continued to sing in the decades since that time. One of her most impressive accomplishments came in 1985 when she founded her own label, Miss B Records, which was followed by an even more impressive accomplishment in 1988, when she released the album Mother Wit. Besides its multiple hits, Mother Wit was also remarkable in that it won Wright the honor of being the first black female artist to have a gold album on her own label.

9. Inspired Numerous Other Artists

Given her success as well as the sheer length of her singing career, it should come as no surprise to learn that Wright’s music has influenced numerous artists over the decades. For example, Beyoncé sampled her “Girls Can’t Do What Guys Do” for “Upgrade U” in 1992, while other artists including but not limited to Mary J. Blige, Sublime, and Chance the Rapper have sampled “Clean Up Woman.” On one occasion, Wright’s music was sampled without her permission, which resulted in a successful legal case as well as a share of the royalties.

10. Betty Wright Has a Net Worth of $5 Million

Celebritynetworth claims that Wright has a net worth of $5 million. However, since this figure is based on what is known publicly rather than anything more private, its reliability is uncertain at best. With that said, it is interesting to note that Wright is still earning money because she remains an active figure in the music business as not just a singer but also a record producer.