Motown's Marvellettes' Gladys Horton dead at 66

story by the Detroit Free Press
written by Brian McCollom

Gladys Horton, the Detroit native whose voice led such Marvelettes hits as "Please Mr. Postman" and "Beechwood 4-5789," died late Wednesday at a nursing home in Sherman Oaks, Calif. She was 66.

"My mother died peacefully," Horton's son, Vaughn Thornton, said in a statement issued this morning by the Motown Alumni Association. "She fought as long as she could."

Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr. paid tribute to Horton this afternoon, lauding her as one of the first Motown greats.

"Gladys was a very, very special lady, and I loved the way she sang with her raspy, soulful voice," Gordy said through a spokesperson. "We will all miss her, and she will always be a part of the Motown family."

Horton had lived in the nursing facility since a stroke last year.

She had retired from the music business in spring 2009, noting that travel was no longer enjoyable, effectively ending the 48-year reign of the original Marvelettes.

"Love comes in two directions, from your hearts to us and from our hearts to you, and it has always been that way!" she wrote in a statement at the time.

As a student at Inkster High School, Horton helped found the group that would eventually become the Marvelettes, linking up with fellow glee club members Katherine Anderson, Juanita Cowart, Georgeanna Tillman and Georgia Dobbins.

A successful audition for Motown Records was followed in 1961 by the group's debut single, "Please Mr. Postman," with 17-year-old Horton on lead vocals. It became Motown's biggest pop crossover hit to that point, reaching No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100.

Horton was the lead singer on follow-up hits such as "Beechwood 4-5789," "Playboy" and "Too Many Fish In The Sea" before losing her lead role to Wanda Young in 1965. Horton departed the group in 1967 and moved to the Los Angeles area in the early 1970s.

She performed in later years as Gladys Horton of the Marvelettes, though she complained that her ability to tour was hampered by other "Marvelettes" incarnations with dubious ties to the original group. Her example was frequently cited amid legislative attempts to protect the naming rights of original artists.

Horton is survived by two sons. Funeral arrangements have not yet been set.